


Roads Less Traveled

by MaryS (Duffydog)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23146717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duffydog/pseuds/MaryS
Summary: Post-Endgame.  As Janeway and Chakotay settle on Earth, their lives both take unexpected turns.
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63
Collections: Mia's Meat Raffle





	1. Prologue:  December, 2378 – Earth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [audabee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/audabee/gifts).



> Notes: Written for Audabee who won an original story from me in the Meat Raffle, organized by Mia Cooper to aid Australian relief efforts after the disastrous wildfires of 2019-2020. Her request – “adventure of any kind. Angsty is good. J/C” – made it much easier for me to fulfil as I hadn’t written a story of this length in a long time. She also asked specifically for explosions – I tried.
> 
> Many thanks to Vanhunks who beta’ed for me – her comments are always helpful.

As her ship burst through the exploding Borg cube, finding eighteen starships waiting on the other side, Kathryn Janeway let out a quiet sigh of relief. 

Behind the Federation ships, she could just make out a small blue ball – Earth. “We did it,” she muttered softly to herself. “Thank you, Admiral Janeway.”

“Welcome home,” boomed Admiral Paris from the viewscreen, looking very puzzled. “How did you – ?”

“It will all be in my report, sir,” Kathryn cut him off. There was no way she could even begin to explain all that had happened in the last few hours.

“I’ll look forward to it,” replied the admiral before ending the transmission.

Finally, Voyager’s long journey was over and they were home.

* * *

A week later, Kathryn Janeway began the arduous task of debriefing. Although she was not looking forward to explaining all that had happened to a board of review comprised of desk-bound admirals who hadn’t sat on the bridge of a starship in years, nor rationalizing all her decisions, she found that the board was surprisingly sympathetic to her situation. More than one was heard to say that he or she was very sure that, in similar circumstances, they couldn’t have accomplished what Janeway had. 

Each day, she wondered when the other shoe would drop and the chastisements would start. But they never did, and at the end of ten days, she was told that they were finished, followed by congratulations on such an achievement. Of course, added one of the admirals, she would have to remain on Earth in case there were follow-up questions, and he expected to see her the following evening at the Welcome Home ball, but otherwise, she was free to start her leave.

Barely able to believe that she was hearing compliments instead of reprimands, Kathryn politely thanked the board, then hustled out of Headquarters as quickly as she could. 

A few minutes later, she found herself crossing the rose garden and stopped to contemplate the flowers. “Well, Boothby, what do you know?” She murmured to the late gardener and her friend. “It would seem I’ve gotten off scot-free. I won’t believe it, of course, until I see their report but it looks pretty hopeful.” And with a smile on her face, she continued on her way.  
“Now I have to find a dress….”


	2. Chapter 1:

The evening of the Welcome Home Ball saw hordes of people rushing to find viewing spots on and around the great plaza in front of Starfleet Headquarters, where the event would be held. After years of war and deprivation, this was the first feel-good story in far too long, and everyone there wanted to enjoy their first sight of the heroine of the Delta Quadrant.

Stepping out of her chauffeured hovercar, attired in a floor-length evening gown, Kathryn Janeway surveyed the masses with something approaching trepidation. What she saw was a solid wall of people. How on earth was she supposed to get to the doors?

“Captain!” rang out from several different spots in the crowd as reporters swarmed around her. “How does it feel to be home?” “What was it like in the Delta Quadrant?” “Has Starfleet promoted you yet?” and lastly, “What are you going to do now?”

A smile pasted on her face, Kathryn attempted to make her way through the throngs but quickly discovered that 3-inch heels were not the best footwear for keeping her balance in such a mob. It was only when a Security detail was able to get through to her, then force a path open, that she could reach the doors and move inside. 

Much to their chagrin, Security was adamant that the reporters had to wait outside. “Captain Janeway is here for a ball, not a press conference,” the commander in charge of the detail explained repeatedly. “All information regarding Voyager and its crew can be accessed through Public Relations.”

“Who spend a lot of time babbling and tell you exactly nothing,” grumbled the FNN man to his holographer. “Might as well head back to the studio. That’s most likely the last we’ll see of Janeway.”

Now that the object of their attention had disappeared, everyone else assembled there decided to leave as well and the plaza quickly emptied. Within a few minutes, only two or three officers could be seen scurrying across the vast space.

Stepping inside the ballroom, Kathryn paused to survey the large throng. As her eyes swept across the crowd, she picked out various members of her crew and her face broke into a wide smile. 

“Captain on deck!” shouted Harry Kim from near the back, making heads turn to stare at the entrance. 

Even as she still stood in the doorway, the applause started and quickly became a roar of approval. 

With a delighted laugh, she wasted no time moving forward to find her people and join them in celebrating Voyager’s arrival home. 

* * *

It was some time later, while Kathryn was engaged in conversation with Tom and B’Elanna, that a slight buzz swept through the room, causing everyone to glance around.

In the entrance stood Chakotay with Seven on his arm, both in formal dress. 

_‘They make a stunning couple_ ,’ thought Kathryn enviously before remonstrating with herself. ‘ _Enough. They’re happy together and that’s what matters. So, hold up your head and enjoy the occasion.’_ And putting Chakotay out of her mind (mostly), she returned to her companions.

Others of her shipmates, however, weren’t so forbearing.

“What’s going on?” asked one.

“When did this start?” muttered another, “because I sure as hell would have said a more ill-suited pair doesn’t exist.”

“Isn’t she a little young for him?” queried a third. “I mean, there’s got to be over twenty years between them.”

And on several sides was heard, “I wonder if the captain knows about this.”

Try as she might, Kathryn couldn’t completely block out the murmurings around her, especially as she agreed wholeheartedly with them. But it wasn’t her place to say anything so she bit her lip and continued to wear a bright smile. She’d be damned if she’d give any hint how betrayed she felt by Chakotay’s defection into Seven’s arms.

At the end of the evening, she was exhausted by the effort to maintain a joyous façade and only too glad to return to her temporary lodging. While most of the crew had accepted her demeanor at face value, she was well aware that those who knew her best, particularly Tom and B’Elanna, were less easily fooled. However, in deference to her obvious wish to accept the happy couple, they said nothing beyond one growl from B’Elanna, which Tom quickly cut off.

However, once she arrived at her rooms, she collapsed on the couch, her heart heavy. She’d done it, kept up the front that all was well and she really didn’t mind Chakotay taking up with Seven, when in fact, she was heartbroken. A few tears were allowed to roll down her cheeks at the thought of what might have been before she sat up, kicked off her shoes, then moved to her comm unit. It was time, past time, to get out of here. She would leave a message for Personnel concerning her whereabouts and first thing in the morning, go home to Indiana. If Starfleet wanted to find her, they could.

* * *

Two weeks later, Kathryn sat on her mother’s front porch, wondering why she had ever thought a retreat to Indiana would be a good idea.

At first, she had been relieved to be able to sleep in if she wished, drink unlimited cups of coffee, accompanied of course by one of Gretchen’s caramel brownies, putter in the garden or take the dog (one of Mollie’s pups) for a pleasant walk across the fields. She had even spent some time sitting in her favourite spot ten feet up her ‘thinking tree’. 

But try as she might, she simply couldn’t settle on any activity that didn’t soon leave her bored and restless, searching for something else to do. Deep down, she knew what the problem was but was reluctant to admit how much she was missing Chakotay. For so long, he had always been there, ready with advice, suggestions, or merely to tease her out of the doldrums. 

But now he wasn’t, a situation which she was finding very hard to accept. Over and over, she told herself she simply had to learn to live without him; but over and over, his glinting smile and laughing eyes continued to haunt her thoughts.

Unbeknownst to her, Gretchen was watching her daughter closely, concerned that she couldn’t seem to settle down. The Delta Quadrant had wrought a tremendous change in Katie; it had hardened her, making her close herself off to everyone, even her mother. 

After wracking her brain, early one morning Gretchen had a brainwave. ‘ _I wonder if she was involved with someone and something happened.’_ Debating her options, she decided that bluntness might work best. If she could catch Kathryn off-guard, perhaps she could surprise the truth out of her.

Not one to waste time, she tackled her daughter at breakfast. “Despite all the plaudits and congratulations you’ve received,” she began, “you don’t seem very happy. And I’m wondering if that’s because you left someone behind in the Delta Quadrant.”

Stunned, Kathryn could only stare.

“Katie?” prodded her mother. “Did you?”

For a moment longer, Kathryn remained silent, thinking how best to reply. In a way, it would be a relief to unburden herself to someone, and who better than her mother? “Well,” she began hesitantly, “not exactly.” At her mother’s raised eyebrow, she continued, “There _was_ someone but….I didn’t leave _him_ behind. Rather, he left _me_.”

Wondering if she’d said too much, she stopped but Gretchen would have none of it. “Go on,” she demanded in a tone that Kathryn had automatically obeyed since early childhood.

Before she knew it, Kathryn had launched into a litany of failed possibilities, in particular what might have been with Chakotay if only….

“If only you hadn’t been the captain,” Gretchen finished for her.

“Yes,” sighed Kathryn wearily.

“I realize you could well have been out there for the rest of your lives but couldn’t he understand your position and wait for you?” argued Gretchen before realizing the truth. “Or…you didn’t tell him, did you? You put on that command face so he wouldn’t know how you really felt. Well? Am I right?”

“Pretty much,” agreed Kathryn, “although there was more to it than that. We had several disagreements, major ones, about some of my command decisions. Although I thought we’d gotten past that but….” She sighed heavily. “I don’t know, Mom, maybe he just got tired of waiting. Anyway, shortly before we made the last jump which got us home, he apparently took up with Seven. And they seem very happy. I can’t interfere, it wouldn’t be fair.”

“Seems to me,” Gretchen retorted, scowling, “that he hasn’t been very fair, either.”

However, Kathryn refused to blame Chakotay. “What happened was my own fault. I never told him how I felt and then it was too late. It’s done, finished and I have to move on. And that’s all there is to it.”

Getting to her feet, she picked up the dog’s leash and walked to the back door. “It looks like a nice day so I’ll take Penny for a walk. Do us both good.”

Shaking her head at her daughter’s stubborn insistence on taking the blame, Gretchen decided to leave it alone for the present. And later, after she’d had a most illuminating conversation with Tom Paris, she came to the conclusion that very little could be done now to resurrect a romance that had never really happened. As Katie had declared, it was over.

* * *

Almost two months later, near the end of her leave, Kathryn was injured falling out of her special tree, the one she had scaled regularly in childhood.

Tom and B’Elanna happened to be visiting at the time; she was showing them how she used to climb it when she lost her grip and tumbled nearly thirty feet to the ground, breaking several branches on the way.

While Tom quickly knelt beside her, checking for broken bones, B’Elanna tore up to the house where Gretchen was playing with Miral.

“Gretchen!” she shouted. “Come quickly. Kathryn has fallen out of a tree!”

Leaping to her feet, Gretchen thrust the baby at her mother and dashed out the door, down the steps and across the lawn to where Kathryn was lying motionless.

As she skidded to a halt, Tom looked up. “She’ll be okay. I think she’s broken her right arm and there are a lot of scrapes and bruises but considering how far she fell, she’s gotten off pretty lightly. And there’s no concussion.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Gretchen stood staring down at her daughter who smiled weakly.

“Sorry, Mom. Guess I forgot I’m not ten years old anymore.”

Her mother shook her head in exasperation. “Katie Janeway! At your age, you really ought to know better than to go climbing trees.” Turning, she started back to the house, muttering to herself. As she reached the steps, she called back, “I’m calling Doctor Bearton. So stay put until he gets here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kathryn echoed Tom.

Within a few minutes, the doctor, who had been treating Kathryn since she was five, arrived on the scene. With Tom’s help, they soon had her patched up although he refused to allow her to stand. “This young man seems pretty competent. He can carry you to the house. And once there, Katie, you are to spend the next three days doing nothing more strenuous than lying on the chaise longue on the verandah.”

Noticing her scowl of displeasure, he added sternly. “I mean it, Katie, and so I’ll tell your mother.”

Kathryn pursed her lips in disgust but nodded obediently. “Yes, sir.”

Remembering her many arguments with the EMH, Tom was quite astonished that she acquiesced so readily to Doctor Bearton’s orders, and he didn’t hesitate to make several pointed remarks about her lack of cooperation with Voyager’s physician.

Intrigued, the old doctor patted her avuncularly on the shoulder then asked for details.

Much to Kathryn’s chagrin, Tom gleefully related several stories about the captain’s hatred of physicals and her habitual insistence that ‘I’m fine’ even when, clearly, she was not.

“Ahh,” replied the doctor, “perhaps because I’ve known Katie nearly all her life, she’s used to doing what I tell her.”

“In my experience, the captain never does what anyone tells her unless she’s good and ready to,” retorted Tom.

“But that’s on her ship, dear,” interjected Gretchen. “Here, she’s at home and has to obey our orders.”

Both Tom and B’Elanna burst into roars of laughter and even Kathryn had to smile. 

“I’m afraid it’s true,” she told them. “You see what a martinet my mother is. But,” she smiled at Gretchen lovingly, “she keeps me in coffee so I can forgive her a lot.”

“You’re in good hands, Captain,” declared B’Elanna, smiling at Gretchen.

“The best,” agreed Kathryn.

At that moment, Miral began to fuss which led to the Parises taking their departure.

“Now remember to take it easy, Captain,” called Tom, as he climbed into the hovercar. “I’ll give you a call in a day or two to see how you are.”

In response, Kathryn waved her goodbyes.

“They are a lovely family,” remarked Gretchen as the hovercar disappeared. “I’m very glad you had them with you for all those years.”

Kathryn had to chuckle. “Well, Mom, I’m not so sure you would have thought so if you’d seen them at the beginning of our journey. But with a lot of effort, and more than a few bumps and bruises along the way, they matured and became good friends to me. I couldn’t be more proud of them.” She glanced up. “Since apparently, I’m confined to this chaise for the moment, could I ask you to fetch me another coffee?”

“Certainly, dear, I’ll get it right now. And then I better start thinking about dinner….”

* * *

A day later, Kathryn received a message from Chakotay, saying he’d heard via B’Elanna that she wasn’t well. “Seven and I are both very concerned. Could we come by for a visit?”

Not really wanting to see them together, Kathryn was reluctant but knew she didn’t have a good excuse why they shouldn’t, so she nodded. “When were you thinking?” At the same time, wondering if she could find a way to be out when they arrived. 

However, Chakotay forestalled her. “I was thinking later today, if that’s convenient.”

With a sigh, she agreed. So much for finding an excuse to put them off. “Sure. See you then.”

When Gretchen heard who was coming to visit, she was very curious to meet the pair but slightly worried about how Kathryn would handle seeing the man she’d admitted she loved, with someone else. However, on their arrival, she soon realized that Kathryn’s command mask was firmly in place. She was smiling, friendly and gracious.

Gretchen’s first impression of Chakotay and Seven was that as a couple, they seemed all wrong together. Their body language didn’t really jibe, Seven appeared to be apprehensive – although Gretchen had no idea why – and the conversation was somewhat stilted once the initial introductions had been made. As well, there was a look of more than just concern in Chakotay’s eyes. His face showed longing and regret when he looked at Kathryn, making Gretchen wonder if he were wishing he’d waited just a little longer.

As the afternoon passed, she became more and more convinced that Chakotay was in love with her daughter and not the beautiful blonde accompanying him. When she happened to catch a puzzled look on Seven’s face, she realized that the young woman had noticed the same thing. Kathryn and Chakotay were laughing on the verandah, their heads close together, their bodies angled toward each other. ‘ _Any closer,’_ thought Gretchen, ‘ _and they’d be joined at the hip.’_

Seven’s expression was darkening by the moment with suspicion and jealousy. Gretchen wasn’t really surprised when Seven abruptly got to her feet, announcing that they must leave as they had another engagement.

Startled, Chakotay looked up, shocked at her rudeness, before realizing what had prompted it. Smiling politely, he agreed and suggested she get her things. 

While she was inside the house, he bent over Kathryn and gently kissed her cheek. For a few seconds, their eyes met, each staring longingly at the other. Again, Chakotay leaned down, this time kissing her mouth, his lips caressing hers in a kiss that went on and on.

Observing from the window, Gretchen saw Seven start to step through the door, then pause. Clearly, she had also seen the kiss. Unable to intercept her, Gretchen could only watch as the two on the porch abruptly separated.

A moment later, Chakotay and Seven were gone.

* * *

Two weeks after, Kathryn returned to active duty, accepted a promotion to admiral and was named Deputy to the Head of Strategic Operations.

Trying to keep Chakotay out of her mind, she spent long hours in her office, but despite her efforts, she found it difficult to fight off the constant loneliness. However, determined to get on with her life, she did what she had so done often before – buried herself in work so she could ignore her feelings.


	3. Chapter 2:

Several months later, Starfleet’s Public Relations department announced that it had commissioned Jake Sisko, an up and coming young journalist, to write a book about Voyager, her crew and their astonishing journey home across the Delta Quadrant. As the son of a decorated Starfleet captain, as well as spending much of his formative years on Deep Space Nine, Jake was uniquely qualified to understand and appreciate the working lives of Starfleet officers. As well, he was considered to be one of the Starfleet family, rather than an outsider, all of which recommended him to the Head of PR. 

“I want an in-depth book, Jake,” Admiral Contail explained. “Don’t simply go by the logs but try to get into their heads, find out how they felt when they first realized how far from home they were, and how long it might take for them to get back. How did the two crews, enemies at first, learn to work together? And how long did it take before they felt they were one crew? And I don’t want you to interview only the senior staff. Talk to the those on the lower decks, get their opinions, too. Do you think you can handle it?”

Both intrigued and a little frightened at the scope of what the admiral was asking, nevertheless Jake really wanted to take on this project. As with so many in the Alpha Quadrant, Voyager’s story fascinated him and to have the opportunity to learn about it first-hand was too tempting an opportunity to pass up.

“I can do it, Admiral,” he replied with more confidence than he felt. “What deadline are you looking at?”

“Well, I don’t want to rush you so certainly six months. Maybe more, but I’d like it done and published within a year. If it could come out around the first anniversary of Voyager’s return, that would be terrific. What do you think? Is that enough time?”

“Yes, sir, I think so. And if I run into problems, I’ll let you know.” He paused, then added almost diffidently. “If some of the crew don’t wish to talk to me, any suggestions?”

The admiral shrugged. “We can’t force the civilians to agree to interviews if they don’t want to but as far as the Starfleet officers are concerned, I’ll issue an order that they are to comply with all reasonable requests.” He smiled. “And you seem to be a sensible young man. I’m sure you won’t make any unreasonable ones.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll get started right away.”

“Excellent. I’ll have your security clearance in place so you can access Voyager’s logs.”

Jake left the admiral, feeling energised and excited. This could make his career as a writer.

* * *

The announcement of a book to be written about them was greeted with mixed feelings, especially among the senior staff. 

Tom and B’Elanna both expressed their approval, the EMH, heavily involved in Lewis Zimmerman’s latest project, was indifferent, and Tuvok, unable to understand why anyone would be very interested, was reluctant.

Harry stated flatly that he didn’t care as he was heading into deep space as second officer on the USS Valor the following week – in fact, the ship had already left and he would have to catch up with it at Starbase 147.

Both Chakotay and Seven were uneasy and had a lot of questions. As civilians, their participation would be voluntary, although Jake was eventually able to persuade each of them that the book simply wouldn’t be the same without their contribution.

Kathryn was very uncomfortable with the whole idea. As far as she was concerned, she said, she had already been glorified enough and just wanted to get on with her life. 

When he heard that, Tom muttered to B’Elanna that he wondered if she was afraid that Jake would find out Starfleet had _become_ her life.

* * *

Several weeks passed and Kathryn put the book project out of her mind as she became involved in the Shinzon affair and subsequent negotiations with the Romulans. It was only two months later, when Jake contacted her just as she was about to leave for Deep Space Nine on the first leg of a fact-finding mission to survey the condition of the colony planets in and around the Demilitarized Zone, that she remembered. 

Hoping to put him off, she said she was about to leave and couldn’t delay the trip but he told her that he was going to the station anyway en route to visiting Bajor. If she would let him hitch a ride on the ship taking her, he could conduct his interviews on the way.

When she still refused, telling him she would be engrossed in reports for the entire trip, he conceded before going to Admiral Contail, who immediately contacted her and flatly ordered her to cooperate, explaining that whether she liked it or not, she and her former crew were walking advertisements to promote Starfleet ideals and right now, with a war-weary public, they needed all the good press they could get.

Heaving a weary sigh, Kathryn gave up and agreed to the interviews.

* * *

Two days later, when she boarded her ship, the Hunter, she found Jake already there.

“You don’t waste any time, Mr. Sisko,” she almost snapped as he hurried to keep up with her along the corridor to her quarters. “So, let’s be clear. I am under orders to cooperate with you, and I will do that up to a point, as long as you stick to topics from my official logs. My private life, however, is off limits, regardless of Admiral Contail’s order. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” replied Jake meekly, then wondered what he’d said to earn him such a glare. He soon found out.

“And I don’t like to be addressed as ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir’, for that matter. My title is Admiral. Make sure you use it.”

“Yes, ma – uh, Admiral.”

By now, they had reached her rooms. 

In an effort to reassure her, he said, “I’ll endeavour to make the whole process as painless as possible, Admiral, that’s a promise.”

She tossed him another scowl, then sighed and nodded. “Very well. Let’s get started as soon as we can so I get this over with. Shall we say after dinner this evening, around 1900 hours?”

“That would be fine, Admiral, thank you.”

* * *

Over the next week, Kathryn spent most of her days immersed in reports and treatises analyzing the current situation on the former colony worlds, the political and economic situation throughout the region, and various expert predictions for the future. The evenings she spent with Jake, answering his questions and describing her adventures in the Delta Quadrant.

Although she expected he would want to know about the various hostile situations in which Voyager had been involved, in fact, he seemed much more interested in the ship’s daily life, the minutiae of their days aboard a starship stranded so far away. 

How did they barter for supplies? How did they adapt alien technology to Starfleet systems? What did the crew do in their downtime? What was it like constantly having to make first contact? What did it feel like to realize she and her crew were alone, especially at first, and how did she cope with that? What was the most important thing she learned from her experiences? When Voyager finally returned to the Alpha Quadrant, what were her feelings? After the debriefings were finished and she could take leave, had she felt like an outsider, unsure what to do or where to go?

Mindful of Public Relations’ demands, Kathryn tried to answer Jake’s questions, but found it difficult – she’d never been comfortable discussing her personal feelings, and had always felt safer taking refuge in her command persona.

However, even though he sensed her reluctance, he kept probing gently, although, having no wish to alienate her, he was very careful not to push too hard.

By the time the Hunter reached DS9, he was able to thank Kathryn for her cooperation, telling her he probably had all the information he needed.

With a sigh of relief, she answered, “That’s good because I feel like I’ve been through the wringer.”

Giving her a smile, Jake wished her good luck in her mission and added he would contact her if he required anything else.

When the Hunter left for the nearest colony world, Kathryn focused once more on her mission, putting Jake completely out of her head.

* * *

As the first anniversary of Voyager’s return to Earth approached, Jake’s book was published to much critical acclaim. Instead of simply describing a chronological history of different crewmembers, he had analyzed their individual reactions to their situation – how they felt when they first realized they might never see the Alpha Quadrant again, how they adapted to their new lives, how well they adjusted to the constant pressure of life in the Delta Quadrant, and how all those factors affected and changed them over seven years.

He had divided the book into three parts – the senior staff, what he called ‘the lower decks’, and the Maquis.

In the first section, he devoted a chapter to each of the senior staff, as well as one to Naomi, one to Seven and another to Neelix and Kes. The second section comprised several chapters on the remainder of the original Starfleet crew, while the third emphasized the Maquis and how they were able to adapt to living by Starfleet rules and regulations.

In the preface, he explained that the details of Voyager’s story were already well-known; what he had tried to do instead was describe how a disparate group of people were able to forge themselves into a very close-knit group, bound by common experience and the exigencies of their unique situation. He finished by thanking each and every member of the crew who had been willing to discuss their personal experiences so frankly with him.

Although she knew the book had been published, once back on Earth, Kathryn was too busy putting together a final report on the situation in the former DMZ to read it right away. However, when she did, she was quite appalled at the picture Jake had painted of her. She hadn’t realized how much he’d picked up on the loneliness she’d felt from time to time, although she thought she had carefully hidden her feelings. As well, from some of the personal anecdotes which she knew she hadn’t told him, he had obviously discussed her with a number of the crew.

At first, she was angry and tossed the book aside, characterizing it as so much rubbish but later, she went back to it, curious to see how he had treated the other members of the crew. What she read made her realize that although she thought she’d known them so well, in fact she’d barely known them at all. By the same token, the reverse also appeared to be true.

“She was always the captain,” stated more than one of the lower decks. “She was friendly and kind but there was a barrier between her and the rest of us. With the other senior staff, like the commander and Lieutenant Torres, we didn’t sense that barrier; they were less reserved, I guess is the word. You could approach them at any time but not the captain, especially in the last year or so. She became even more distant. I don’t know why she felt she had to isolate herself but I know she did.”

Different crewmembers had different perspectives, but even Chakotay stated that after she returned from the Borg, she was a different person, that her ‘captain persona’ had almost completely taken over her personality. 

“She’s such a wonderful warm woman, but no one ever got to see that,” he was quoted as saying, and in reply to Jake’s query about when she’d started to change, he’d apparently had to think for some time before answering “when we made the alliance with the Borg.” Then when Jake asked if he believed she’d changed since their return to Earth, Chakotay replied softly, “no, I don’t think she can now, it’s been too long and she’s forgotten how to be anyone other than the captain.”

Sitting motionless in her chair, Kathryn found it impossible to believe that Chakotay could have said that. He was her best friend – well, he had been - and of course, she could put aside her captain’s (now admiral’s) hat; it was just that she never had time these days when there were so many critical assignments that she had to deal with.

Disgusted and annoyed, she tried to brush off his comments, but they continued to haunt her, coming to the fore at odd moments. 

When she prepared for bed that evening, as she stood in front of the mirror, she paused to examine her face, trying to be objective. And realized she didn’t like what she saw – a cold, hard-eyed woman with a harsh cast to her face, someone who no longer remembered how to laugh or even smile. “When did I become so severe-looking?” she whispered to herself. “Why, I’ve started to look like…Nechayev!” Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as she gasped in horror. Turning, she began to pace, trying to rationalize what Jake and her crew had observed, but her innate honesty compelled her to admit that at some point, she had lost her capacity for compassion and mercy. “Here I kept telling Seven how to regain her humanity, when it appears at the same time, I was losing my own.”

Thoughts of Seven inevitably led to Chakotay. Feeling very vulnerable, hot tears slowly ran down her cheeks as she acknowledged that despite her efforts to immerse herself in her new life in Starfleet, her longing for him hadn’t abated one bit. The mere thought of his magical smile easily penetrated all her defenses. Sighing sadly, she contemplated once more what might have been if only…. It occurred to her then that she didn’t even know where he was nowadays. _‘With Seven somewhere, I suppose.’_

Giving her head a shake, she tried to push aside her dismal frame of mind but then her eyes fell on the book. _‘I’ve gotten this far,’_ she thought, _‘I might as well keep going’._ Armed with a fresh cup of coffee, she settled down once more to read the rest of it. By the time she finished, her alarm was sounding – she had been reading all night.

Sitting back, she closed her eyes, her mind overflowing with the revelations contained in the book. ‘ _I thought I knew these people – I thought we were a family – and it turns out I didn’t know them at all.’_ Reading how her decisions, so many made on the spot, had affected different members of the crew and the perspective those decisions had given them of what she was like, opened her eyes to how differently she saw events from the way they did. At that moment, she felt completely isolated and alone, with no idea what to make of their long journey. ‘ _I believed I understood them – how could I have been so blind?’_

Her discoveries filled her with anguish and sorrow as she finally realized that, focused as she had been on the single goal of getting home, she had missed so much of the journey.

Abruptly she rose, contacting her office and leaving a message that she was going on leave immediately and didn’t know when she would return. Briefly, she debated what to do next, then, feeling unusually helpless, decided to ask her mother for advice.

After hearing a brief explanation of her daughter’s revelation, Gretchen suggested she come home for a visit, telling her she shouldn’t make any decisions in the heat of the moment.

Kathryn smiled ruefully and promised to be there within the hour. Once dressed in one of the few civilian outfits she owned, she packed a bag and headed out the door. Somehow, she had to find ‘Kathryn’ again before it was too late, before she could no longer remember who she was.


	4. Chapter 3:

Once back home in Indiana, Kathryn was better able to sit back, take stock and contemplate several possible futures. Realizing she was very tired, at first all she wanted to do was relax in the big wicker armchair on the front porch and maybe do a little gardening.

Nodding wisely, Gretchen agreed, saying she should take as much time as she wanted – that she didn’t _have_ to do _anything_ if she didn’t want to.

Kathryn was quite struck by the novel idea that for the time being, her life was completely her own, that she wasn’t obligated to anyone or anything.

* * *

Two weeks passed and Kathryn was nicely settled, feeling much more relaxed and in tune with herself.

After several communications with Command, Starfleet had agreed she should take indefinite medical leave. 

Kathryn suspected that both the EMH and her counselor had intervened on her behalf but decided not to ask – she was simply grateful to be left alone with no responsibilities.

However, she couldn’t sit still for long so in an effort to keep herself occupied, she decided to start painting again, and in a fit of conscience also began to organize her personal logs. She even attempted to cook, albeit with mixed results. Christmas came and went, and she was able to really enjoy all the tradition and festivities surrounding the holiday season, only now realizing how much she’d missed her family during the years in the Delta Quadrant. At the same time, she also rediscovered her other family, her crew, and spent quite a bit of time visiting and keeping in touch with various members. All in all, she seemed to have settled into her new life quite comfortably and appeared not to miss Starfleet one bit.

However, scratch beneath the surface and she would admit her life was a little too perfect. There was no challenge, no excitement, it was _too_ predictable.

Often at night, Gretchen would catch her staring at the stars, and knew that, for all her cheerfulness, Katie still wasn’t really content. Finally, she asked her point blank if she wanted to find something else to do. “I’ll miss you, of course, but you have to follow your own path, darling, and if that means leaving here, then that’s what you must do.”

Smiling a bit ruefully that her mother had caught her out, Kathryn admitted that, to be honest, she didn’t know what she wanted. “I’m torn, Mom, between wanting to stay and wanting to head out there.” She nodded at the stars.

“Then you should go,” replied Gretchen firmly. “You’re not truly happy here. You need to find your place in the universe and you haven’t done that yet.”

Kathryn nodded slowly. “Perhaps you’re right.”

The following day, she booked passage on a freighter heading to Vulcan. She would start with a visit to Tuvok, who hopefully would provide her with a little Vulcan clarity.

* * *

Several weeks passed as Kathryn wandered through the Alpha Quadrant. 

Her time on Vulcan had been brief but eye-opening.

Tuvok had been gentle but definite – he agreed with Chakotay’s description of the way she had changed in their last year in the Delta Quadrant. “You were under immense pressure during those seven years with little or no down-time but particularly so in the last year. Assimilation by the Borg was extremely stressful, as I can attest. Despite undergoing extensive treatment since our return, I continue to feel the effects of that period.”

Kathryn stared. “Feel?”

But he remained adamant. “Yes, feel. There is no other word to describe my state of mind. Which is most likely why my neurological condition developed in the first place. It might have happened in any event but I have been informed by the healers here that assimilation definitely accelerated the process.”

“Is that why you retired?”

“That was one reason but there were others.”

“T’Pel,” she ventured.

“Precisely,” he agreed.

Not wanting to probe further, Kathryn changed the subject. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing, setting off on a journey that has no foreseeable end?”

“Only you can answer that question definitively but the fact that you believe you must undertake such a journey is reason enough to do so. I would suggest that you put aside any pre-conceived ideas and expectations, and simply appreciate each day for what it offers.”

“Is that a subtle way of telling me not to try to control events?”

If a Vulcan could smile, she thought, Tuvok was smiling now. “That could certainly be one interpretation.”

Chuckling, Kathryn rose to her feet. “I will try to heed your advice,” she promised. “Now, I think I hear T’Pel coming in and I’d like to have a little visit with her as well before I go.”

However, T’Pel would not hear of Kathryn leaving so soon. “We would be honoured to have you stay with us tonight, Admiral,” she stated, “and I believe my husband would appreciate news of your shipmates.”

“Then I will, thank you,” agreed Kathryn, delighted to be able to have what she called a ‘proper visit’ which included admiring the latest grandchild.

By the time she departed the following morning, she was feeling much more optimistic about her new adventure.

* * *

From Vulcan to Draylon, then Trill, over the next several weeks, without realizing it, Kathryn was picking routes heading towards Dorvan.

It was only when her latest transport left her on Deep Space Nine that she realized what she was doing and recoiled, telling herself she simply could not go near Chakotay’s homeworld, whether or not he was there.

Disgusted and annoyed, Kathryn reminded herself of Tuvok’s advice not to try to control events. _‘I’m doing it again,’_ she chastised herself before deciding she might as well stop on the station for a few days while she figured out where to go next. To that end, she procured a room in guest accommodation, then headed off to the Promenade. ‘ _There used to be some interesting shops here, as I recall,’_ she mused as she meandered along before coming to a halt outside a bar. _‘There, that’s what I need,’_ she decided abruptly, _‘a drink.’_

Walking inside and up to the bar, she ordered a glass of wine then stood, leaning against it as she took in the room. ‘Quark’s Bar’, she thought it was called, vaguely remembering fragments of a story about something that had happened to Harry Kim here just before Voyager had left the station over eight years before. Tom Paris had teased him about it a lot, she recalled, then thought, _‘Eight years. Has it really been that long?’_

At that moment, the voice of the Ferengi behind the bar, whom she assumed was Quark, intruded on her thoughts. “….so here I am,” he was complaining to an individual nearby, “with a private yacht, beautifully outfitted, that I can’t use.”

“Why did you get it then?” inquired the man.

“I won it in a dabo game. At the time, I thought perhaps I could sell it but no one around here has the slightest use for a such a thing. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it, and now Colonel Kira says if it stays here any longer, she’s going to start charging me mooring fees.”

Intrigued by the conversation, Kathryn moved along the bar. “I couldn’t help overhearing,” she spoke up. “How big a ship is it?”

Quark immediately scurried closer. “It was originally a type-10 shuttlecraft. The previous owner bought it as surplus after the war and then extensively refurbished it as a private yacht. However, he retained its propulsion systems so it has impressive speed. Although he wasn’t allowed to keep the original weapons, the capability is still there so it wouldn’t be difficult to outfit it with standard phaser arrays and even modified quantum torpedoes. For a price, of course.”

Slightly overwhelmed by his enthusiasm, Kathryn could only nod. “Of course.” However, her brain was quickly running through possibilities. A vessel of her own, which would mean she could go where she liked, when she liked, without having to rely on transport schedules. ‘ _Captain of my own ship’_ , she thought, _‘I like that.’_

However, she was quickly brought back to reality when she asked the price.

“No, that’s way out of my reach,” she stated flatly when Quark named an exorbitant sum.

“What are you thinking of then?” he retorted, obviously prepared to bargain, but Kathryn shook her head.

“Nothing even close to what you’re asking,” she answered.

At that moment, her attention was caught by a familiar face. “Ken Dalby!” she exclaimed delightedly. “I don’t believe it.”

“Captain!” he grinned, “this is unexpected. I thought you were on Earth.”

“I was but…. Here,” she gestured to an empty table, “let’s sit down.” Her eyes fell on Quark. “What can I get you?” she asked Ken as she indicated the bar.

“A beer would be great,” he answered. “Wow, imagine running into you here.”

Quickly, Kathryn placed their orders, then settled down at the table. “Now, tell me what’s been happening,” she all but ordered, making Ken grin.

As Quark brought over their drinks, the two began to catch up on all the news.

* * *

“….and so,” Ken was explaining, “for the last few months, I’ve been working my way through a number of the old colony worlds, looking for work. But they’re still in such a mess after the Cardassians and the war, that most are pretty much uninhabitable. I thought maybe here, I might find something.”

Kathryn nodded slowly as an idea started to percolate in her head. _‘I wonder’…._ On impulse, she asked, “I might have an idea about that. How would you feel about coming to work with me?”

Dalby’s eyes lit up. “Are you kidding? That would be great.” He paused, then added, “uh, doing what exactly?”

“I just had this idea,” she began to explain, “I don’t know if it’ll come to anything or not but it might be worth a try. The bartender over there, Quark, has acquired a private yacht which he has no use for and can’t sell. I spoke to him a little while ago, just before you came in, about what he wants for it but his price is ridiculous. However, I’m thinking now that I might be able to use it to start up a specialized transport service. It’s a type-10 shuttle, extensively remodeled but with the original engines so it has lots of speed. And he tells me that while it currently has no weapons, the systems are still in place and it wouldn’t be that difficult to mount a couple of phaser arrays.” 

“It sounds like a great idea, Captain, and from what I’ve seen lately, it might work very well. Transport out here seems to be pretty much hit and miss. I’d definitely be interested in coming aboard.”

“Good,” she replied, getting up. “Let’s get Quark over here and see what kind of a deal we might be able to work out.” As she spoke, she gestured to the Ferengi.

In seconds, he was hovering over their table. “Would you like refills?” he inquired with a toothy smile.

“Sit down, Quark,” ordered Kathryn, “and let’s talk some more about this ship of yours. The one,” she added pointedly, “that you can’t use and can’t sell.”

“All right,” he agreed, settling into a third chair, and so the negotiations began.

* * *

Although Quark’s price for the ship didn’t come down far enough for Kathryn to agree to buy it outright, eventually they settled that she would lease it for a trial period of six months. If her transport service was successful, eventually she would buy it, the lease payments to count towards the purchase price. As well, Quark would get twenty percent of any profits after expenses. 

“Don’t forget I want those phaser arrays you said you could get,” she reminded him. “For a fair price, I might add, or I may have to rethink our arrangement.”

Anxious not to lose the deal now they were so close to an agreement, Quark rapidly calculated a sum that Kathryn would likely pay, and which would still give him a small profit. “Four bars of latinum,” he announced.

“Try again,” she growled.

“All right, all right,” he whined, “three.”

“Two, and we have a deal. I won’t go any higher,” she warned, “so it’s two or I walk.”

With a heavy sigh, Quark nodded sadly. “Two.”

“Excellent,” she declared, then added, “there is just one more thing.”

“What’s that?” asked the Ferengi wearily. He had seriously underestimated Kathryn’s ability to bargain and now, she wanted something else?

“I will not operate a ship known as the Pink Lady,” she declared. “It needs a new name, something to indicate its purpose.”

“Call it whatever you like,” replied Quark, “as long as it’s not an insult to a Ferengi.”

She pursed her lips, thinking. “How about Quicksilver?”

“That’s a good name,” interjected Dalby as Quark nodded.

“Then Quicksilver it is.” Rising to her feet, she turned to Quark and held out her hand. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

“I’m not sure I can say the same,” he told her in a fit of honesty. “You drive a hard bargain, Kathryn Janeway.”

She grinned. “Thank you. From you, I’ll consider that to be a compliment.” Turning to Dalby, she said, “Shall we go see our new acquisition?”

“Lead the way,” he gestured her to the door.

* * *

Kathryn’s instinct for a business specializing in high-speed transport quickly proved to be unerring.

Within days, she had her first commission, ferrying a priest to Free Haven, a Bajoran settlement near the Rolor Nebula. Within a month, she had procured several more jobs as it became evident that she was filling a particular niche in the region of space surrounding Deep Space Nine, providing fast, reliable transport for VIPs as well as carrying out special deliveries, such as important documents or items, where speed was of the essence.

As well, her name and reputation from the Delta Quadrant were still recognized by many, which also helped to ensure she was getting enough work to make the business viable.


	5. Chapter 4:

While Kathryn was embarking on a new path away from Starfleet, Chakotay was likewise trying to discover a different road.

His relationship with Seven, once filled with hope, had ended within a few days of their ill-fated visit to Kathryn.

Seven was no fool, and the little scene on the Janeway veranda had confirmed a nagging suspicion that Chakotay’s devotion to her was not quite so complete as she’d thought. Deciding she needed another opinion, she made a quick visit to Jupiter Station to consult the doctor. What she learned from him confirmed her belief – there had been a lot more to the relationship between the command team than she’d ever realized.

“You weren’t there, Seven,” he explained, “to witness the interaction between the captain and commander in the early years.”

“So, there was an attraction then?” she asked.

“Oh yes, very much so. In fact, one of Mr. Paris’ betting pools was based on when they would actually acknowledge their feelings and act on them. But as time went on, and particularly after your arrival, their connection became quite muted until it seemed to have disappeared. However, from what you’re saying, perhaps instead it has simply been hidden. The captain was always very firm about running Voyager according to Starfleet regulations and protocols. She would never have countenanced a relationship with any of her subordinates while she was in command.”

“And by the time we arrived at Earth….” Seven mused.

“Exactly,” concurred the doctor.

For a moment, she sat still, pondering before getting up to leave. “Thank you, Doctor, you have been very helpful. I know now what I must do.”

“You’re going to end it with Chakotay?” he asked, unable to keep his tone completely neutral.

“Yes. I believe that course of action will be best for both of us.” And on that decisive note, she returned to Earth to pack up her alcove.

* * *

While Seven was coming to a decision about a future without him, at the same time, Chakotay was coming to the realization that many Starfleet officers still considered him to be a traitor to the Federation. There were a series of little incidents, none serious, but all adding up to the fact that he was no longer welcome in the place he had once considered to be his other home.

Shrugging his shoulders – after all, his loyalty for the last seven years had been to Janeway more than Starfleet – he resigned his commission for the second and final time.

Fleet Admiral Nechayev regretfully accepted it, telling him she was sorry to lose him, that she’d hoped he would stay on and perhaps bring a ‘breath of fresh air’ to Starfleet. Unfortunately, she went on, these days, the attitudes in Starfleet and indeed throughout the Federation were permeated with suspicion and resentment, so while she didn’t like to see him go, she could understand why he wanted to.

However, as he was leaving her office, she called him back. “Give my aide your contact information,” she told him “in case something comes up.”

Puzzled he stared at her, then nodded – it couldn’t hurt, after all.

Standing in the plaza, he debated what to do next. For once, there was no clear path before him, which was both liberating and a little frightening. Not sure what he should do, he decided that maybe it would be a good time to head for Dorvan and see his sister. Away from Earth, and indeed for all intents and purposes the Federation, hopefully on his homeworld he would be able to come to some decisions.

But the visit did not go well.

While his sister welcomed him, others who had returned to Dorvan did not, considering him to be a traitor even though he had fought for the Maquis. “You might have been Maquis at one time,” they told him, “but then you went back to Starfleet, which makes you a turncoat.”

Not willing to put up with their prejudices, again he shrugged and left to head back to Earth once more. Perhaps he would go and visit his cousin in Ohio.

Much to his surprise, on his arrival, his cousin wasted no time informing him that an admiral had been trying to get hold of him. “They’ve commed several times, Chakotay, I guess they really want to talk to you.”

For a split second, Chakotay wondered if it might be Kathryn but a glance at the message showed him the name of someone he didn’t know – Admiral Broughton, Starfleet liaison to the Federation Diplomatic Corps.

With nothing else to do, he decided to contact the admiral’s office to find out what he wanted.

Much to his surprise, his call was put through immediately.

“Mr. Chakotay,” boomed the admiral, “Jack Broughton here. Thank you for getting back to me. I wonder if you could find some time to come in and have a chat.”

More puzzled than ever, Chakotay agreed. “I have plenty of time, Admiral.”

“Excellent. Could you be here…say, around 1300 hours today?”

“Sure.”

“Very good. I’m looking forward to meeting you in person.”

As Chakotay terminated the call, his cousin appeared. “So what was it all about?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Chakotay, “but he wants to see me this afternoon.”

“You’re going? I thought you were done with Starfleet.”

“Yeah, I’ll go. Why not? At least I can find out what he wants.”

* * *

Once in Broughton’s office, the admiral wasted no time. “Admiral Nechayev speaks very highly of you,” he said, “and your record backs her up. I know you’ve recently resigned from Starfleet and I know why. Let me say right now there are a lot of idiots in ‘fleet these days. We lost so many top-notch people in the war that now it seems we’ve been left with a lot of second-rate officers who should never have been admitted to the Academy in the first place. And they wouldn’t have been in my day, or yours either, I expect.”

Appreciating the friendly attitude, Chakotay relaxed in his chair although he still had no idea why he was there.

Broughton soon got to the point. “I want to make you an offer. To become a diplomatic envoy, specializing in settling disputes among various members of the Federation, putting out fires while they’re still small. A trouble-shooter, I guess would be the colloquial term. You have the ideal background,” he went on, “Starfleet trained and yet as a former Maquis, you wouldn’t be seen as a lackey of the Federation. There’s also the fact that you weren’t here during the Dominion War, which means overall, you would be viewed as a neutral party by all sides.” He fell silent, then asked, “So, what do you think?”

For a moment or two, Chakotay sat still, mulling over the offer. It was definitely intriguing, he had no obligations to consider, and it would certainly give him something to do that might actually make a difference to others. “How much latitude would I have in any given situation?” he asked.

“Initially, not much. You would need to undergo a comprehensive course of instruction and then be sent into the field under the aegis of a senior officer. Once he or she is satisfied that you’re capable of handling a problem, you would be given more responsibility as we believe you could manage it. We wouldn’t dump you in willy-nilly but once you’d proved yourself, you would be on your own with a fair amount of leeway. And backup, of course, if needed.” Broughton leaned forward, his gaze intense. “There are no cut and dried rules, you know, a lot of the time our people fly by the seat of their pants, making decisions as they go. That’s why you’re such a good fit because you’ve already been doing that for a long time, you’re well-used to working on the fly.”

Chakotay had to smile. “Yes, in the Delta Quadrant, that was standard procedure.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m very interested, Admiral, but I’d like to think it through a bit more.”

“Of course, I don’t want to rush you. Take lots of time.”

A sudden thought came to mind. “Would this position require me to rejoin Starfleet?”

“No, it would not. In fact, it’s better that you remain a civilian. A Starfleet uniform is not always welcome in some parts of the quadrant.”

Getting to his feet, Chakotay thanked the admiral. “I’ll let you know soon,” he promised, but in his head, he already knew he would accept.

* * *

After six weeks of intense training, which frequently left his brain in tatters, Chakotay was pronounced ready for his first assignment.

“We’re going to Morgas Four,” a senior colleague named Vargas informed him. “It’s a small world close to the Beta Quadrant. This is a fairly minor dispute but it will give you a good opportunity to learn first hand exactly how we operate and what skills are required.”

“Sounds fine,” replied Chakotay, “when do we leave?”

“First thing in the morning,” answered Vargas. “We’ll be traveling on a commercial transport for the first part but after that, it gets more ‘interesting’.”

“Okay, I can do ‘interesting.”

Vargas grinned. “Yeah, that’s what I was told. I think anyone who survived seven years in the Delta Quadrant will be just fine,” he paused, then added, “it was the Maquis before that, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” responded Chakotay flatly, “is that going to be a problem?”

“No, man. If Broughton likes you, that’s good enough for me. See you here tomorrow, 0700.”

Disarmed by his companion’s cheerful demeanor, Chakotay relaxed. “I’ll see you then.”

* * *

The dispute on Morgas Four, although not too serious at first, was in danger of becoming much more widespread if not resolved quickly.

With his long experience of first contacts, Chakotay had no trouble rapidly discerning that it all hinged on who owned the mineral rights on a particular piece of land. Wasting no time, with Vargas watching intently, he immediately met with each side, heard each story, then gathered them all into one room to negotiate. The entire process was conducted in a fair, rational manner, both parties so mesmerized by Chakotay’s soft voice, exuding calm, that before they knew it, an agreement had been reached.

Very impressed, on their return to Earth, Vargas didn’t hesitate to give Chakotay a glowing recommendation.

A month later, when another situation on a different world got out of hand, Chakotay was sent on his own to solve the problem.

Again, he was successful and thereafter, traveled all over the Federation as a mediator and peacemaker. It was work he enjoyed and was good at, knowing he was making a tangible difference to peoples’ lives.

By the time the first anniversary of Voyager’s return had come around, and Jake’s book was published, Chakotay was traveling much of the time. The aftermath of the war had left most worlds impoverished. Some had had their populations all but wiped out, and on many, the infrastructure had been seriously compromised.

As he tried to discover ways of helping both planetary governments and small communities recover, Chakotay found his role expanding. This part of his work was informal and definitely not within his purview as a troubleshooter, but he simply couldn’t leave a planet without making some practical effort to help. Several times, he found himself turning to Admiral Broughton and once even to Nechayev in an effort to circumvent red tape and get immediate assistance for those in desperate need.

His efforts didn’t go unnoticed; as Broughton remarked to the Head of the Diplomatic Corps, M. Frederic Celignac, Chakotay had increased his duties on his own. “I’d like to create a special position for him,” explained the admiral, “one that’s uniquely suited to his talents and expertise.”

Celignac simply nodded, telling Broughton he trusted his judgment and that Chakotay had joined the Corps under his auspices. “Of course,” he added, “if he doesn’t work out, you’ll have to fire him.”

Broughton grinned. “I don’t think that will be a problem. Actually, I’d like to bring him in sometime on an informal basis so that you can meet him and judge his worthiness for yourself.”

“Certainly,” replied Celignac, before ending the conversation.

The admiral was delighted – Chakotay had become something of a protégé.

* * *

When Chakotay next reported into his office after his most recent trip, Broughton was quick to inform him of another one. “I know you’ve just returned and haven’t had a chance yet to take any downtime but I have what I think will be an interesting mission for you. I want to send you to Nivoch Two near the Badlands. It’s an area you know well, I believe.”

“Indeed, I do,” replied Chakotay.

“Good. There seems to be some kind of trouble brewing there. Until yesterday, it was mostly rumours, but now we’ve had a request for assistance from Nivoch Prime.

“As you probably know, Nivoch Two was settled close to a century ago and is now a self-governing colony of Prime. Unfortunately, in recent years, the government there has become quite corrupt, creating something of a power vacuum, which has been filled by several local warlords who are known for their ruthlessness and outright brutality. As it’s an internal matter, we have left it to the authorities on Prime to deal with, but now what’s left of the government on Nivoch Two has fled, using every space-worthy vessel available, and taking with them the entire supply of eluderium, which is to them what bars of latinum are to the Ferengi. In effect, they’ve bankrupted the planet.”

“And the ruling bodies on Prime are unable to deal with it,” sighed Chakotay.

Broughton nodded. “Precisely. That government isn’t exactly a model of stability either – the war caused so many problems throughout the entire region, some of which are only now coming to light.” Pausing, he ordered his thoughts. “At the moment, there are a lot of rumours floating around but we need to get some hard facts, which is where you come in. I don’t want to wait until events overtake us and spill over onto nearby worlds, particularly those in the old DMZ. I’m sure you’re aware that a number of settlers who have returned to the former colonies are, shall we say, somewhat radicalized and more than a little opposed to anything to do with the Federation.”

“I ran into that on my home world, Dorvan, last year.”

“Yes, exactly. Which is why I’d like to keep a lid on whatever’s going on at Nivoch.”

“Of course, sir. When shall I leave?”

“As soon as you can; I would suggest you head to Deep Space Nine. I expect any information they have will be much more up to date than ours. You should also be able to find some sort of transport there.” He leaned forward to emphasize his words. “In a nutshell, I need you to get in there, find out as much as you can, and get out fast. The Council is anxious to keep as tight a lid as possible on this.”

Chakotay got to his feet. “Then I’ll get started right away.”

“Excellent,” replied the admiral warmly, “I know I can count on you.”

* * *

A week later, upon his arrival at Deep Space Nine, and after checking into his accommodation, Chakotay requested a meeting with the station commander, Colonel Kira Nerys. 

Quickly, he explained his mission, then asked for the latest news about the Nivoch system and also what the best and quickest way was to get there.

Shrugging, Kira replied, “There have been some rumours of disturbances in the last few weeks on Nivoch Two, mostly on the level of gossip, you understand, nothing concrete.” She paused for a moment, thinking, “As I recall, there is a regular service to that area approximately once a month, and occasionally, someone will mention they’re heading in that direction. But to get there fast, your best bet is to hire a ship like the Quicksilver.”

“Quicksilver?”

“Yes, it’s a new service that’s only been running a month or so but I’ve heard good reports of it, that it’s reliable with prices that aren’t too exorbitant.”

“All right. How do I go about finding it?”

“Go to Quark’s,” advised Kira, “he’ll know. And good luck.”

* * *

After leaving the ops level, Chakotay strolled along the Promenade, eventually ending up at Quark’s Bar. Wandering in, he glanced around, then ambled over to the bar behind which a Ferengi was standing.

“Hi, I’m looking for Quark,” he said.

“That’s me,” replied the Ferengi, “what can I do for you?”

“I was told that you can organize transport for me on the Quicksilver, I think it’s called.”

“Certainly, sir,” oozed Quark, “that can be arranged and while we’re discussing the details, can I get you a drink?”

“A cider will do.”

“Coming right up,” answered Quark, quickly pouring a bottle of something that sort of resembled cider into a glass.

Chakotay nearly choked on it but discovered with the second mouthful that it slid down more easily.

“So tell me,” Quark murmured in his ear, startling him as he hadn’t realized the Ferengi was leaning over the bar so close to him, “where exactly do you want to go?”

“The Nivoch system.”

The Ferengi frowned. “Nivoch….hmm…close to the Badlands. I must warn you it will be expensive.”

“I need to get there,” Chakotay replied, shrugging, “And from what I’m told, this ship is the most reliable way to do that.”

“Reliable! Oh my, yes, it certainly is that!” There was a pause. “When do you want to leave?”

“The sooner the better,” replied Chakotay.

“Well, the Quicksilver is presently out on a job but she’ll be back later today. Why don’t you come in tonight when her captain is here and we can discuss terms?”

“Sure,” Chakotay nodded, starting to turn away but then he hesitated – this was the sort of place where all kinds of information might be passed around. Leaning forward on the bar, he took another sip. “Tell me,” he said, “I expect you hear a lot of gossip, rumors, that sort of thing.”

Quark leaned closer, preening slightly. “You could say that. There is a price, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Depending on how difficult it might be to discover the information you’re after,” continued Quark. “So, what is it you need to find out?”

_‘Here goes’_ , thought Chakotay. “Well,” he began, “word has gotten around that there have been some problems on one of the planets in the Nivoch system. I’m wondering if you know anything about that.”

Quark pondered, “It’s possible. We don’t get a lot of news about that region of space, not nowadays anyway, and what we do hear is often out of date but there have been a few rumours. If you were willing to part with, say…a strip or two of latinum, I could inquire. Discreetly, of course,” he added at Chakotay’s sudden frown.

“I could manage that,” he replied.

“When you come back tonight, I may have something for you,” responded Quark, glancing around the bar.

Taking that as his signal to leave, Chakotay turned for the door. “Thanks, see you later.”

* * *

Returning to Quark’s that evening, Chakotay walked in then stopped in astonishment.

There, leaning casually against the bar, a drink in one hand, was Kathryn Janeway.

He blinked but when he opened his eyes, she was still there. _‘She must be real,_ ’ he mused, then started forward to greet her.

Catching sight of him out of the corner of her eye, Kathryn swung about to face him. “Chakotay?’ she exclaimed softly, “what are you doing here? And out of uniform?”

“I might ask you the same thing,” he replied, “I thought you were gracing the admiralty these days.”

“I was but,” she paused, obviously thinking about how much she wanted to say, “I got bored. So, I left, although officially, I’m still on leave. I suppose I _should_ submit my resignation but I simply haven’t got around to it.”

At her cavalier dismissal of Starfleet and her career, his mouth dropped open. “You haven’t got around to it? Kathryn? What’s going on?” As he spoke, his eyes darted around the bar before coming back to her.

“Nothing nefarious, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she snapped, “I simply found something else to do.”

“What?” he demanded bluntly but she didn’t answer, instead eying him carefully.

“So, what’s your excuse?” she asked.

“I resigned my commission,” he replied, realizing he wouldn’t get an answer out of her right then.

One eyebrow lifted slightly, “I see. And, uh, Seven?”

But he shook his head. “No Seven, not anymore. We parted ways soon after I last saw you.”

“I see,” she repeated in a slightly too interested tone, which she immediately tried to cover up. “What _are_ you doing, then?”

“I joined the Diplomatic Corps. I’m a trouble-shooter, I guess is the easiest way to describe it. I go anywhere in the Federation where there’s a problem and I try to solve it.”

Her eyebrow lifted higher. “Well, that sounds worthwhile.” She glanced about them. “And what problem are you trying to solve now?”

Chakotay hesitated, looking about the crowded bar. “Let’s say I’d prefer not to discuss it, not here anyway.”

She shrugged but before she could respond, Dalby hurried in and headed directly to her, not even noticing who was standing next to her.

“Kathryn,” he began, “it’s all fixed but we’ll need – ” His voice broke off as he realized who was beside her. “Chakotay?!” he blurted in amazement, “what are you doing here?”

“He’s here to solve a problem,” interjected Kathryn before putting her glass down on the bar.

At that moment, Quark appeared beside them. “Ah,” he exclaimed, “you’ve already met. Excellent.” Turning to Kathryn and Dalby, he continued, “This is the client I was telling you about.”

“Really?” drawled Kathryn while Dalby simply stared.

“Yes, although,” he turned to Chakotay, “I realize I never got your name.”

Before Chakotay could reply, Kathryn cut in, “Never mind. We know very well who he is.”

Quark’s eyes opened wide. “Oh. You do. Well, all right then.” He blinked then gestured to a nearby table. “Why don’t we sit down and discuss terms?” Once they were all settled, he continued. “I assume since you were asking about Nivoch, that’s where you want to go.”

Chakotay nodded as Dalby exclaimed softly, “Nivoch!”

“Yes, is that a problem?’ asked Chakotay.

Dalby shrugged then looked at Kathryn.

“Not particularly,” she answered, “but from what I’ve heard, that entire area is getting a bit dicey. There have been a number of rumours about Nivoch Two – government collapsed, different factions and warlords attacking each other, that sort of thing, with civilians caught in the middle, of course.” Her gaze drilled into him. “Can I assume you have ‘business’ there?”

“You can,” replied Chakotay shortly, unwilling to go into details in such a public place.

Beside them, Quark was scowling, knowing Kathryn had unwittingly given Chakotay the information he would have sold him.

“I assume then that cost won’t be an issue,” she continued, “so when do you want to leave?”

“As soon as possible,” he answered.

In response, she stood up. “All right. Let’s go.”

Blinking slightly, he rose to follow then started to grin. ‘ _Kathryn never was one to let the grass grow under her feet.’_ Turning to Quark, he said, “Thanks for your help” before following Kathryn and Dalby out the door.

Behind them, Quark sighed sarcastically. “You’re welcome.”

* * *

Wasting no time, with only a slight detour so he could collect his bag, Kathryn led Chakotay through the station to a docking port on the next level, then through an airlock into a beautifully luxurious little vessel that had Chakotay’s jaw on the deck.

“Wow,” he exclaimed, “this is impressive. Where did you find a ship like this?”

Behind him, Dalby laughed. “Right here, actually.”

Kathryn smiled. “It’s not mine, it actually belongs to Quark. He won it in a dabo game but as you can see, it doesn’t suit just anyone. In fact, he’s tried to sell it several times with no success whatsoever. Quite a comedown for a Ferengi.”

“I can well imagine,” responded Chakotay, looking about him at the expensive furnishings, “so how did you get it?”

“I’m leasing it from Quark with the proviso that eventually, if I do well enough, I’ll buy it from him. Meanwhile, he gets a small percentage of the profits.”

“How small?”

“Twenty percent,” she answered as she nodded toward the seat behind her. “Better strap yourself in, Commander, this little ship can move.”

As she spoke, she fastened her shoulder harness, then called out, “Ready, Ken?”

“Yes, ma’am,” came from behind them.

Kathryn muttered something unintelligible before alerting the station that the Quicksilver was ready for departure.

A moment later, the docking clamps released and they slid away from the docking ring.

Easing the ship forward on thrusters, Kathryn waited until they were clear of the pylons then engaged warp drive; in a split-second, they had left the station far behind.

* * *

Once their course was set and the auto-pilot engaged, Kathryn got up. “Come on, I’ll show you around,” she announced.

Intrigued, Chakotay followed her through a door to a small but well-equipped galley complete with a table and four comfortable chairs, then through another doorway into a short corridor with a door on each side and another at the end.

“Bedrooms here and here,” she indicated the doors, “and back there leads to the engine room, which is underneath this deck. There’s also another very small room down there which can serve as either a storage room, or if we need it, a bedroom. All in all, it’s a very tidy little ship with lots of power, more than might be expected in a vessel of this size. For what we’re doing, it’s ideal.”

“I can see that,” concurred Chakotay, as he admired all the fittings. “Do you carry weapons?”

“A couple of phaser arrays, mounted on each side of the nose so we’re not completely defenceless. We could certainly scare off a small vessel like a runabout, if we had to,” she shrugged, adding, “so far, it’s not been a problem.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

Pausing, she calculated. “A little over a month, maybe six weeks, but already it’s proving to be a success. The main selling point is speed, and we have plenty of that. This is a type-10 shuttle so it can maintain warp 8 for days at a time and 8.5 for twelve to fifteen hours, which is a lot more than any other model.”

“So,” he calculated rapidly, “we should arrive in…three days?”

“More like three and a half.”

“Good enough. I must say I’m most impressed, Kathryn,” he told her as they returned to the galley area.

She smiled happily. “I’m having fun, I think Ken is too. We get along well and having known each other already for so long really helps. As well, the trips are never that long, maybe a week or two at the most. I’m very hopeful we can be a success and the nicest part is, it’s something completely different for me and I’m finding that I can do it and enjoy it as well.”

“So, Starfleet’s permanently in the past, is it?” he inquired, “No going back?”

“No, I can’t see myself ever going back,” she paused but he waited, knowing there was more.

“There are a couple of factors, you see. On Voyager, I got so used to expecting the unexpected that I found life on Earth to be quite boring. At times, anyway. And then there was Jake Sisko’s book. Reading it proved to be quite a revelation. I had no idea the crew thought I was deliberately isolating myself from them.”

“But weren’t you, Kathryn?” he asked gently.

“Well, I had to maintain a certain distance,” she retorted defensively, “every captain does. You know that.”

“In the Alpha Quadrant, maybe,” he replied, “but out there, on our own for years? Possibly for the rest of our lives?” She started to speak but he held up his hand, silencing her. “I know you demanded we run a Starfleet ship but I think you might have bent a little more than you did, and been a little more flexible.”

“But I did join in,” she objected, “for Talent Night, our activities with the children, even Captain Proton, if you remember.”

“Oh, I remember, all right,” he grinned, “and so did every crewmember who saw you in that dress!”

“Well, there you are then,” she nodded decisively before her face fell. “But, to be honest, what hurt the most was what Jake quoted you as saying, that by the end of the journey, you believed my captain persona was all that was left of me. Is that really what you thought, Chakotay?”

With a sigh, he nodded, “Yes. You have to remember, I got to know you in a way the rest of the crew did not. And I got to see what a wonderful person you are when ‘the captain’ has been put aside. But by the last year, ‘the captain’ seemed to be pretty much all there was. You see, Kathryn, that journey hardened you, which is not surprising under the circumstances, it hardened all of us, but you more than everyone else because you had the ultimate responsibility for our fate. I was kind of hoping the book might act as a bit of a wake-up call because from what I’ve heard since we came home, you were becoming the classic Starfleet admiral, and that’s not who you are. Or were, anyway.”

Although he expected her to protest, Kathryn remained silent, remembering her own horror the morning she looked in her mirror and realized she was becoming like Nechayev. Eventually, she looked up at him with a sad little smile. “I understand. That is what finally drove me to take indefinite leave and go wandering. Ever since, I’ve been trying to find out who I am.”

“And have you?”

“I’m not sure yet but I do know I’m a lot more comfortable with myself now and I’m certainly not bored. Every trip is different, a new adventure.” Again, she shrugged a little deprecatingly. “Maybe that will change in time once the novelty wears off but right now, I’m enjoying myself thoroughly.”

Seeing her bright eyes and happy smile, Chakotay had no trouble believing her.


	6. Chapter 5:

Three days later, the Quicksilver was nearing Nivoch.

“Run a scan, Ken,” ordered Kathryn. “Let’s see what we can find out before we alert the locals that we’re here.”

Fingers flying over the console, Dalby stared at the display. “I’m detecting signs of fighting on the southern continent,” he replied, “in the same region as where a medium-sized city is located,” then added, “much of which is on fire.” He glanced at Chakotay. “That’s the capital, isn’t it?”

“I believe so. Is the conflict confined to that area?” he asked.

“I’m seeing a lot of land around it that’s been recently burned. It’s as if they’ve been fighting a series of running battles.” He paused, then added, “I think there’s been aerial combat as well.”

“In space? I thought their space-capable ships were all gone,” interjected Kathryn quickly, moving to peer over Dalby’s shoulder. “Chakotay, take the helm, would you? Hold us here.”

As he moved to the pilot’s chair, she focused on the readouts. “It looks as if any fighting in the air has been confined to the atmosphere, not beyond it. I’m not detecting any plasma residue.”

There was silence for several moments as Chakotay rapidly examined their options. “You know,” he said finally, “I think it’s time we made our presence known. Let’s hail them.”

But to their considerable surprise, there was no response at all.

“I would expect some kind of reply from someone,” he remarked in a puzzled tone. “Try again.”

But as before, the planet remained silent.

“I don’t like this at all,” he muttered. For a moment longer, he pondered his choices before standing. “I need to go down there. I can’t get any answers sitting up here.”

“Okay,” concurred Kathryn, “but I’m coming with you.”

“No!” exclaimed Dalby and Chakotay simultaneously.

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, I am. So, don’t argue, gentlemen, because I am going with you. Someone has to keep you out of trouble.”

The two men glanced at each other before Dalby had an inspiration. “How about we land the ship? Somewhere quiet, out of the way but close enough that you can find out what’s happening.”

Kathryn looked a little dubious but conceded that it made sense. “All right. Let’s have a look at the landscape….”

Shortly after, the Quicksilver settled quietly in a small unoccupied valley, well away from any signs of conflict. Chakotay would easily be able to transport closer to the city from there.

* * *

Despite their protestations, Kathryn stood firm – when Chakotay beamed out, she would be with him. In the end, tired of the argument, he agreed with the reservation that she was not to put herself in unnecessary danger and if he told her to leave, she would do so.

“I’m in charge of this mission,” he reminded her firmly, “please try to remember that.”

“Absolutely,” she agreed sunnily now that she’d won the battle. Both were perfectly well aware that if push came to shove, she would do exactly what she wanted anyway, regardless of what he told her.

With a sigh, he moved to the transporter pad. “Come on then, let’s go. Ken, you’ll keep a lock on us?”

“You bet, Cap,” came Dalby’s cheerful response. “Every minute.”

* * *

When they rematerialized, they found themselves in a shallow gully, covered in low scrub. 

Glancing around, Kathryn was dismayed to note that there were no trees to provide any sort of cover in case of attack. Although it was still daylight, the light was dim as thick clouds covered the sun. For a moment, she wondered if it was going to rain before realizing the clouds were actually dust and smoke; the fire they’d seen from orbit must be worse.

Quickly, they make their way to the top of the gully and peered over carefully, mindful about the possibility of becoming targets. As they got their bearings, they discovered they were on a broad ridge overlooking the city which was now burning from end to end. Flames were licking through buildings one after another, sending ever more clouds of smoke into the air.

Leaning close to her, Chakotay whispered that obviously the fighting had escalated and the situation was much worse than anyone had realized. “So much for contacting somebody. No wonder our hails were unanswered.”

Mesmerized by the sight, Kathryn stared in horror, thinking no one could possibly still be alive in such an inferno. 

Nudging her arm, Chakotay pointed to their left, where a thin line of people was trudging along a narrow road away from the city. 

Standing up, they began to carefully make their way towards them.

Further along the ridge, on the other side, they found a makeshift camp, which was rapidly growing larger as refugees from the city poured in. 

As Chakotay and Kathryn worked their way through the groups of people towards the centre, there was a sudden shriek of horror. As everyone turned around, this way and that, trying to find the source, they noticed a girl pointing to the sky, indicating three approaching planes.

Instantly, people leaped to their feet, scattering in terror as the small, sleek fighters swooped low overhead, strafing the camp with phaser fire, then dropping several bombs. With a tremendous roar, huge chunks of dirt and rocks went flying in all directions, killing many outright and burying many more underneath piles of debris.

Instinctively, Kathryn grabbed Chakotay’s arm, hauling him down onto the ground. Nearby, two small children screamed in panic as their parents fell, mortally wounded. Carefully, Chakotay crawled to reach them, pulling them under him, protecting them with his body. Ten feet away, a little boy sat all alone wailing for his mother, lying dead beside him.

The fighters returned to strafe the camp again, a deadly stream of plasma just missing Kathryn’s head as she tried to reach the child.

Panic-stricken people scrambled in every direction, trying to avoid being killed although in the chaos, several were trampled. 

Hurriedly, Kathryn crab-walked the last few feet and snatched the little boy literally from under the feet of the frightened mob. Holding him tightly, she scrambled up and ran to where Chakotay was clutching the other two. When she reached him, he thrust the two little ones he’d rescued into her arms and took off, weaving and dodging, looking for others. Within minutes, he returned, a little child under each arm and followed by three older youngsters, two of whom were leading smaller ones. Within half an hour, they had gathered together thirty children.

By then, the fighters had disappeared and people were returning, then starting to search for missing families. Twenty of the children were quickly claimed but for the other ten, there was no one. 

Worried that their communications might be intercepted, Chakotay hesitated to contact the Quicksilver but with night falling, he knew they needed some kind of sustenance. Indicating her combadge, he murmured, “I think we need to take a chance and comm Dalby. If nothing else, we should check that he and the ship are intact, and let him know we’re still alive.” 

“All right,” agreed Kathryn. “I’ll ask him to replicate as many emergency rations as possible and beam them to us. These people will need food and blankets soon.”

At Chakotay’s nod, she tapped her combadge. “Janeway to Quicksilver.”

“Dalby here. You okay, Kathryn?”

“Yes, we are. I assume you have remained undetected?” With his confirmation, she continued,

“however, the situation here is much worse than we anticipated. We need as many emergency rations as you can replicate as well as blankets. The people here have very little – clearly, they had to run for their lives with no time to gather any supplies.”

“Okay. Where do you want them?”

“I’m going to walk a little distance, just far enough so the transporter beam isn’t too obvious. I don’t want to cause a stampede.”

As she spoke, she started walking up the hill, then a little way down the other side. “There,” she told him a few minutes later, “I’m out of sight now. Lock onto my coordinates.”

A few seconds later, a pile of rations and thermal blankets appeared at her feet. “That’s great, Ken, thanks. When you’re ready, send another batch to the same place. I’ll let you know how much more we might need after that.”

Picking up as much as she could, Kathryn made her way back over the hill and down to Chakotay.

“Here,” she announced as she dumped her load, “there’s more the other side of the hill.” Glancing around, she picked out two men. “You two, come with me.”

By the time, the trio returned to the beamdown spot, another load was waiting for them. 

Their faces lighting up, the men quickly shouldered the supplies, hurrying back to the camp. 

“Make sure you share those,” shouted Kathryn, rushing after them.

As they strode into the centre of the camp, a crowd gathered around, trying to grab whatever they could but quickly the men and Kathryn fended them off.

“One at a time and only the minimum,” she announced, “otherwise you get nothing.” And she stared around her, glaring. “You’re going to have to share because this is all there is.”

As one, the crowd moved back so that the men could hand a ration pack to each person, with blankets dealt out one at a time to groups of three.

When their hands were empty, Kathryn motioned them over to her. “Go back to where we got these. There will be more waiting there.”

Immediately, the two broke into a jog, quickly disappearing over the top of the hill.

At the same time, Kathryn discreetly hailed Dalby, requesting another load.

“Okay,” he agreed a bit hesitantly, “but the replicator is starting to smoke a bit. I don’t think I can do any more after that without burning it out.”

“And we have no way of repairing it here,” said Kathryn. “I understand. Do what you can.”

While she spoke with Dalby, behind her Chakotay was breaking out the rations she’d brought him and was sharing them with the children, at the same time checking them for injuries. Fortunately, although everyone had scrapes and bruises, there were no serious wounds. 

As darkness fell, they settled everyone close together.

“I think we should stay here for at least a day,” suggested Chakotay, “so that any other families who are searching for lost children will have time to find them.”

“Agreed. I’ll let Dalby know.”

Once arrangements had been made, she settled down opposite him, the ten children between them.

* * *

The following morning, just after dawn, the fighters returned and again strafed the refugees.

Hurriedly, Kathryn and Chakotay gathered their charges and led them apart from the main group, hoping the pilots wouldn’t notice them. However, their hope proved futile as they were attacked as well, a bomb exploding close by, digging another big crater. 

Two of the children were injured, one critically, and Kathryn suffered a flesh wound in her arm trying to protect a third. Ignoring her injury, she and Chakotay quickly scooped up the wounded and yelled at the rest to follow them, then broke into a run, heading for a fold in the hillside. As cover, it wasn’t much – they could only pray it might be enough to protect them. 

Fortunately, their hopes were proven true. Once they reached the spot and dived flat on the ground, the fighters didn’t seem to see them, returning their attention to the main group. Screams and cries of terror and agony echoed off the hills as one after another, the planes continued to bomb the makeshift camp, people falling to the ground until finally, there appeared to be no one left alive. At that point, the fighters disappeared and the survivors cautiously began to pick themselves up.

The carnage was appalling – well over half the refugees were dead or severely wounded. Of the remainder, nearly everyone had suffered injuries of some kind.

Leading the children back to the main camp, Kathryn and Chakotay debated their options.

“I think it’s safe to say the situation has deteriorated far beyond anything you could do,” Kathryn declared. “We’re looking at all-out war.”

With a sigh, he was forced to agree. “So, what do we do with all these kids?”

Overhearing them, one of the refugees, a haggard-looking man, told them to take as many able-bodied children as they could and find shelter. “Those fighters will be back,” he explained, “and next time, they won’t leave until we’re all dead. Please, save the children. They’re our future and our only hope.” 

Knowing he was right, Chakotay, with the man’s help, rapidly rounded up thirty youngsters; in the distance they could hear the sounds of weapons fire and shouting.

“Quick!” ordered the man. “Go!”

In desperation, Chakotay hurriedly glanced around, searching for any more, then spotted one little girl sitting silently nearby, her eyes glazed over from shock. Quickly, he scooped her up, then nodded to the man. “Farewell. Don’t worry. We’ll get them to safety and take care of them.”

The man’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. Now hurry and go.”

Dashing back to where he had left Kathryn, Chakotay found she had organized the children so that the bigger ones were helping the little ones. “Time to get moving,” he shouted, “the enemy is coming.”

Nodding that she’d heard him, Kathryn ordered the children to fall into line, the authority in her voice enough to make them obey automatically.

Wasting no time, their little calvacade set off up the hill, heading towards the gully where they’d beamed down the day before.

As they walked rapidly away from the main group, Kathryn tapped her chest. “Janeway to Quicksilver. Respond.” 

“Quicksilver here,” came Dalby’s welcome voice. “Are you ready to leave?” 

“Yes. How soon can you get here? We’ve got approximately thirty children and there’s a hostile force heading our way.”

“I’m quite close actually. I thought it might be a good idea to move nearer to you.”

“Understood. We don’t have time to use the transporter so you need to land as close as you can to our beam-down coordinates. We’re heading there now. Janeway out.”

Praying that their communication hadn’t been intercepted, they led their straggly group on up the hill, then over the top.

Half an hour later, they finally reached the gully and scrambled down the sides, crossing their fingers that they hadn’t been spotted.

“So far, so good,” muttered Kathryn.

“Let’s keep going towards the other end where it opens up,” replied Chakotay, “hopefully our ride will be there.”

When they reached the point where the gully emptied into another shallow valley, they paused. Now they were on the other side of the hill, the sounds of fighting had disappeared and it was almost eerily silent. One or two of the children started to speak but were quickly hushed.

For several minutes, no one made a sound as everyone strained to listen and then they heard it – a dull roar that grew louder and louder as the shuttle appeared in the sky, quickly descending toward them. 

Within minutes, it had landed a few hundred yards away, and with Kathryn leading the way and Chakotay bringing up the rear, they all started to run towards it. They could see Dalby appear in the open hatch, then point behind them and wave frantically.

Risking a quick look behind, Chakotay spotted soldiers bursting over the top of the hill and starting to run towards them. As he reached the ship, he urged the children to get in as fast as they could, tossing in the smaller ones and hoping someone would catch them. Although it seemed to take forever, in fact within two minutes, they were all aboard.

Quickly, he sealed the hatch, then shouted “Let’s go!” even as Dalby was engaging thrusters. With a rapid check that everyone was more or less settled in place, he scrambled forward to the helm.

Kathryn was already at the weapons console, cradling her bad arm against her body as she stabbed at the controls with the other hand. 

Phaser fire lanced out from the ship, eliminating several soldiers who were firing at them, which made the rest stop and run to take cover, allowing the ship time to gain enough altitude to take them out of immediate danger. However, just as they were breathing a sigh of relief, several fighters appeared.

By now, Chakotay was able to take over the helm, letting Dalby relieve Kathryn. As she slipped through the door to the rear, he was firing every weapon he had in an effort to escape. Although he didn’t actually hit anything, the barrage was enough to allow them to get away at maximum impulse.

For several minutes more, Chakotay continued to dodge and weave in case they were being pursued but no other ships appeared, and he was able to go to warp.


	7. Chapter 6:

The arrival of the Quicksilver at Deep Space Nine, carrying thirty ragged children stuffed into every nook and cranny, caused consternation on several levels.

Even as the youngsters were being evaluated and treated in the station’s sickbay by every medic available, a relief effort to be led jointly by Bajor and the Federation was being mounted to rescue as many as possible of the civilians still in the danger zones on Nivoch Two. 

Chakotay’s preliminary report to Admiral Broughton didn’t mince words. “I was unable to discover any planetary authority at all,” he declared. “The infrastructure around the capital city on the southern continent has been destroyed, the city itself burned to ashes. The inhabitants I was able to find, those who are still alive, have fled to a nearby encampment but its facilities are rudimentary, to say the least, and it is under almost constant attack by fighter planes, with no means at all of defence. There are most likely more civilians who escaped in different directions but I was not in a position to find out as I myself came under attack more than once, and it seemed best to escape while we could, bringing some thirty refugee children with us to safety. It is crucial that a rescue mission is sent as quickly as possible, not only to succor the civilians, all of whom are close to starvation, but also to stop the attacks on them.”

At once Broughton sent the report to Admiral Nechayev, who in turn delivered it to the Federation Council with an urgent plea that Starfleet be authorized to provide ships and personnel for such a mission. “We have an opportunity here to provide a positive example of the good that the Federation can do, of how our resources can be used to help, not destroy. And quite frankly, Council Members, we need all the good publicity we can get. You must realize the Federation is not looked on kindly by quite a number of worlds so here is a chance to change that opinion of us.”

Her words, unusually eloquent for someone who normally never felt the need to justify her actions, fell on receptive ears. Within hours, she had received the authorizations she sought and was issuing orders at rapid-fire speed to assemble a fleet of five ships including a hospital ship, a personnel carrier if a full-scale evacuation proved necessary, a supply vessel, and two starships as escort.

“Get out there and if necessary, get the civilians off that planet,” Nechayev ordered the senior captain. “And see what you can do about the idiots in those fighters. Nivoch is a member of the Federation and it must be made clear that we simply will not tolerate that sort of behaviour. Firing on unarmed civilians! Absolutely disgraceful!”

“Yes, Admiral,” replied Captain Locasta firmly. “Do you want the ones responsible arrested?”

Nechayev paused. “Personally, I would, but I suspect the Council won’t agree as technically, it’s an internal matter. However, if you can give them a good scare, by all means, do so.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Locasta grinned. The look on her face left no doubt in the admiral’s mind that several warlords were about to get a nasty shock. 

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” And with that, she sent the captain on her way.

Half a day later, the fleet set a course for Deep Space Nine where it would rendezvous with a Bajoran fleet, also rapidly being organized.

* * *

Meanwhile, his work done for the moment, Chakotay found himself at a bit of a loose end and wondering what Kathryn was doing. 

He soon found out.

“I’m going back,” she declared when he finally tracked her down inside the Quicksilver’s engine room. “Ken and I have decided we’ll load up with all the supplies we can cram in, then once we’ve unloaded them on Nivoch, we’ll bring back as many refugees as possible.”

“Kathryn,” he objected, “Starfleet and Bajor are both putting together a major rescue effort.”

“I know,” she replied, scrambling out from the hatch. “But we’re here and right now, this ship is faster than anything else around. We need to do this, Chakotay, I’m surprised I have to explain that to you. I thought you’d be cheering us on.”

“I applaud your intentions,” he explained carefully, “but I am very concerned about your safety. There are only two of you. If something goes wrong, as usually happens where you’re concerned, who is going to rescue you?”

“Nonsense,” she retorted, “we’ll be fine.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard that too many times, Kathryn, and generally you’re _not_ fine.” Pausing, he bit his lip, then gripped her shoulders, making her look at him. “I’ve just found you again, I don’t want to lose you now.”

His intense tone held her attention, and she stared back at him. “You won’t,” she finally replied softly, “because I don’t want to lose you either.”

His eyes darkened. “Do you mean that?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t,” she retorted, remaining motionless under his hands.

Slowly, his face creased in a smile. “That’s good to hear, very good indeed.” But then, his smile faded. “However, more than ever, I wish you would stay.”

“You know me, Chakotay, I can’t do that.”

Smiling ruefully, he nodded. “Yes, I do. Then, let me come with you. Maybe with three of us, we’ll actually survive the trip.”

Her first instinct was to say no – after all, his presence would mean less room to bring people out – but over-riding that was the fact she could see how much her safety meant to him. And to tell the truth, she admitted in a rare moment of honesty, she would be glad to have him covering her back.

“Okay, come on then. We’re leaving within the hour.”

* * *

By the time the Quicksilver arrived at their previous location on Nivoch Two, it was the middle of the night.

As they circled carefully over the area where the city was situated, Chakotay could see nothing but the glow of smoldering ruins. Immediately, his mind jumped back a dozen years to his first sight of his home village on Dorvan after the Cardassian attack. With a shudder, he suppressed the memories – there was no time now to mourn.

“There’s certainly nothing left here,” Kathryn remarked. “Let’s head to where we parked the last time. Ken, keep a sharp eye on the sensors. Those fighters could show up at any time.”

Dalby duly kept his attention focused on the scans but nothing appeared. “Seems to be clear skies right now,” he murmured.

“Okay, here we are,” she announced a minute later. “The end of that gully right below us is where you landed before.”

Peering intently through night-vision goggles at the landscape, Chakotay was able to pick out a number of small bumps, which he realized were actually people huddled on the ground. He spotted several faces tentatively peeking upwards – there were at least some still alive.

“Take the helm, then beam me down,” said Kathryn abruptly, rising from her chair. “I’ll contact you once I know what the situation is.”

Rising as well, Chakotay forestalled her. “I’m coming with you.”

“Chakotay, I – ” She got no further.

“We don’t have time to argue about it, Kathryn. I’m coming with you. Ken,” he tossed over his shoulder, “keep a lock on us, okay?”

“Okay, but make it quick,” replied Dalby. “If those fighters come back, I can’t hold them off for long.”

“We’ll be as fast as we can,” promised Chakotay, hurrying to the transporter. 

A moment later, they were gone.

* * *

As soon as they materialized on the surface, the people hiding there began to get up and come forward to meet them. 

Among them, to their surprise, was the same man who had begged them to take the children on the previous trip. “You got them to safety?” he asked hopefully.

Chakotay smiled. “We did indeed and they’re fine. They’re being well looked after on Deep Space Nine.”

As he spoke, Kathryn was glancing around. “How many of you are there?” she asked. “We have room for maybe twenty-five, if we really squeeze in tight. And we brought supplies which have to be unloaded first.”

“There are perhaps fifty to sixty of us left here,” replied the man sadly. “The soldiers have killed all the rest.” He shrugged, “The city originally had nearly half a million inhabitants. I don’t know how many of those might have fled in other directions.”

“All right, then let me contact my ship and let’s get as many of you out of here as we can.” She nodded to the group around them. “We have very little time, so can you gather everyone together?”

At once, the man waved his arms, encouraging everyone to come close. “These people have a ship. They are the ones who rescued many of our children several days ago. Now they have come back with supplies and they will take as many with them as they can fit in when they leave.”

Exclamations of surprise and joy echoed through the little group as hope replaced despair on every face.

“Janeway to Dalby. Can you land in the same spot as before?”

“Be there in a jiffy,” replied Dalby cheerfully.

In less than a minute, the ship appeared over a hill beyond them, then quickly descended, landing as close as possible to the little group.

As the hatch opened, Chakotay shouted at the man to get everyone moving fast. “It’s quite possible the fighters have detected us and will be coming. We have to hurry.”

Wasting no time, he dashed inside the shuttle and started pitching out the supplies.

Quickly, a chain was formed and in less than ten minutes, the shuttle had been emptied.

Just as the last blankets were tossed out, Dalby yelled a warning. “I’ve detected several blips on sensors. We have to go.”

Hearing him, Kathryn spun around and ran towards the man who seemed to be the leader. “The fighters are coming. We have to be off the ground before they arrive or we’re all dead.”

At once, he repeated her warning, then added, “I need thirty volunteers to agree to stay here. Those who are strongest would be best. We have supplies now so we’ll survive.” He nodded to a range of hills in the near distance. “We’ll head there, to the Baddon Hills, where there are lots of caves in which to hide.”

“There is a relief effort being assembled right now,” Kathryn was quick to assure him. “If you can hold out for a week, maybe two at the most, they’ll be here.”

At that moment, Chakotay moved to her side. “I’ll stay with them,” he told her. “Then there will be room for another person on the ship.”

“Chakotay….” She paused, knowing it was the best thing to do but not wanting to leave him behind.

He smiled and brushed her cheek. “To quote someone I know and love, I’ll be fine.”

For a second longer, she hesitated but then he pushed her towards the shuttle. “Get going. You don’t have any time to waste.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, like getting killed,” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran for the ship. Herding in the last stragglers, she turned in the hatchway, staring at him, then pressed the pad. 

Even as the hatch was still closing, Chakotay could hear the engines engaging. A second later, the little ship rose up then took off at maximum power.

Behind them, Chakotay heard a dull roar and knew the fighters were nearly there. “Hurry!” he shouted, “Grab as much as you can and run for cover.”

“This way!” yelled the leader, indicating the side of the gully, “there’s a small indent in the hill. Hopefully, they won’t see us if we stay down.”

“Hopefully,” muttered Chakotay as he followed the group pelting across the gully. Seconds later, everyone dived down then remained completely still as the fighters swept overhead.

For a few seconds, they remained motionless until it became obvious the enemy had other prey in mind.

“Guess they’re focused on the Quicksilver,” whispered Chakotay to the leader beside him.

“Good, that will give us time to move further away.” Getting up, he waved his arm. “Let’s go while we can.”

Quickly, the little group picked up their bundles and walked rapidly toward the hills beyond.

* * *

Inside the Quicksilver, the ship was jammed everywhere with people. In the end, Kathryn discovered as she made her way forward, squeezing past and counting heads as she went, they had crammed twenty-five people into a space normally meant for perhaps half a dozen.

Settling at the sensor display, she muttered, “Thanks, Ken,” even as her eyes scanned the readouts.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he replied before turning his full attention to flying. “We’re going to have company in a minute. Can you manage weapons as well as sensors?”

Kathryn grinned. “I can do that.” Sliding over to the weapons console, she activated the phaser arrays, muttering, “Finally get to try them out,” then looked through the sighting scope. “I can’t see them – ”

The Quicksilver suddenly slammed sideways then rolled, the inertial dampeners nearly immobilized as Dalby tried to dodge the fighters.

“There are two of them practically on top of us!” he yelled. “And another closing fast.”

Quickly Kathryn swung the scope around. “Got them!” As she spoke, she fired the phasers at point-blank range, knocking both fighters out of their trajectories.

As they spun out of control, the Quicksilver leaped for open space, Dalby engaging warp engines even though they were still within the planet’s atmosphere. 

Watching for the third one, Kathryn knew it was their only real chance to get away. One decent shot from that fighter and they would be so much space dust.

As the shuttle cleared the atmosphere, she caught a glimpse of starlight reflecting off metal, which appeared to be angled away from them. In the dark, it was hard to be sure but she hoped it was the last fighter turning back. Where the other two were, she didn’t know but it would seem the Quicksilver had escaped.

Heaving a sigh of relief, she moved forward to pat Dalby’s shoulder. “Nicely done, it worked. I didn’t know you could fly that well.”

“One more thing I learned as a Maquis,” he grinned before nodding at open space ahead of them. “We’re on our way now.”

“That’s great, I’ll go back and tell our passengers.”

* * *

By the time the Quicksilver docked at Deep Space Nine, everyone aboard was very relieved to be able to disembark.

“Not that we aren’t extremely grateful,” explained more than one of their passengers, “we are. You literally saved our lives.”

“But it has been pretty cramped, hasn’t it?” Kathryn sympathized.

“Well…yes. But we have managed and now we’ll be fine,” responded the woman brightly. “And I’m looking forward to reuniting with the children.”

“While you’re being cleared in the medical bay, I’ll round them up for you,” promised Kathryn, moving forward to assist in docking.

Once the hatch had opened, she spotted Colonel Kira, accompanied by several security guards and medical personnel.

“Kathryn,” Kira greeted her, “welcome back. I’ve got everything organized so if you will bring your people through, we’ll get started.”

As Kathryn turned to wave her passengers forward, Kira added, “Also there’s news. Starfleet’s rescue fleet will be arriving in two days and the Bajoran fleet is loaded and ready to go.”

“That’s wonderful, Nerys, thank you for letting me know”

By now, the people had all come through the hatch, leaving Dalby to bring up the rear.

Kira glanced into the empty ship. “Where’s Chakotay?”

“He elected to stay behind with the refugees that we couldn’t fit in.” At Kira’s look of dismay, Kathryn continued, “I think they’ll be all right once they get to some hills where there are caves to hide in.” Although she tried to keep her tone matter-of-fact, Kira picked up on the worry in her voice.

“It’s getting there that’s the hard part, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yes. The enemy have fast little fighter planes and don’t hesitate to shoot at anyone in sight, regardless of who they are. To be honest, that planet is on the verge of all-out war. And if that happens, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it spreads to the rest of the system and from there, who knows? It’s not a good situation at all.”

“Can you put all this in a report for the fleet commanders?”

“Absolutely. Let me grab a shower and a fresh set of clothes, then I’ll get right to it.” She glanced to her side where Dalby was hovering. “Ken, the colonel here wants a report on what we saw and I’d appreciate your input. Can you come round to my rooms in say, half an hour?”

“Sure, Kathryn. Uh, I wanted to tell you that the Quicksilver is all locked down but it needs a cleaning.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet it does. Better get that done before Quark sees it or he’ll want to up his percentage.”

Kira cut in. “Don’t worry about that, I’ll see to it myself. You get that report done.”

“Thank you,” Kathryn responded gratefully before turning away. “You’ll have it later today.”


	8. Chapter 7:

On Nivoch Two, while the enemy fighters were chasing the Quicksilver, Chakotay and his band took advantage of the distraction and hurried as fast as they could towards the hills under cover of darkness.

They were well aware that while the fighters hadn’t attacked, they would certainly have alerted any ground troops in the area.

Two hours later, as dawn was breaking, the leader, whose name Chakotay had discovered was D’emdro, called a halt. “We need to rest for a few minutes,” he explained.

Nodding, Chakotay retraced their steps a few hundred feet, listening for any sounds of pursuit but after several minutes, there was only silence.

Trotting back to the group, he picked up his bundle. “I can’t hear anything but if you’re ready, I think we should keep moving.” He indicated the lightening sky. “Pretty soon, they won’t have any problem spotting us. We need to find cover before then.”

As one, they all got to their feet. 

“Let’s go,” called D’emdro, once more stepping forward to the head of the column. Beside him, Chakotay murmured, “How much farther, do you think?”

The man frowned, glancing around. “Another six hours anyway.”

“Is there somewhere we can shelter before then?”

In response, he turned, calling forward one of the men. “Jo’dash, you know this area. Is there anywhere we can hide until nightfall?”

Pondering, Jo’dash paused, then pointed off to the side. “Over there is a small wood. It’s not much but it might be enough to keep us out of sight. Of the planes, anyway.”

“How far?” interjected Chakotay, his worry increasing as the sun began to appear over the horizon.

“Uh, maybe half an hour’s walk?”

“I think we should go there,” said Chakotay. “Out here, there’s no cover and they’ll find us.”

“You’re right,” agreed D’emdro, turning to wave the group forward. “We’re going to find cover in a wood a half hour’s walk from here,” he told them. “We’ll continue to the hills after dark tonight.”

One or two looked ready to argue but as the rest quickly changed direction, they decided not to take the chance of being left behind.

For the next twenty-five minutes, their luck held and they made good progress towards the woods, now close by. But then, a roar could be heard in the distance, quickly getting louder.

“Run!” shouted Chakotay as he dashed towards the trees.

On his heels followed the group, all running flat out for their lives.

Once under the first trees, Chakotay stopped and turned, hurrying everyone deeper into the forest. “Go a little further then lie down and keep still,” he instructed. “That way you won’t set off any motion sensors they may have.”

As two fighters swept into sight across the terrain behind them, he dived for cover under the nearest bush and held his breath, hoping they hadn’t been detected.

For uncounted minutes, he remained still but the fighters didn’t return. Finally, he got to his feet and moved further into the woods. “I think it’s safe to move now,” he called out softly. “But we can’t go any further so we might as well settle in for the day.” To D’emdro, he added, “I think it would be a good idea to keep watch, in case there are ground troops around.”

The man nodded slowly. “That makes sense.” He glanced about then looked upwards, smiling ruefully. “How are you at climbing trees?”

“I haven’t done it in a long time but in my boyhood, I was considered pretty good.”

However, at that moment, Jo’dash interrupted. “I’ll do it.” He nodded towards one of the other men. “V’taldo there can relieve me in a couple of hours.”

“Good, then I would suggest the rest of us get a bit of sleep,” declared D’emdro, “we’re going to have a long walk tonight.”

* * *

As the sun fell below the horizon at the end of the day, the group gradually roused, first to eat a bit of food then gather their supplies in preparation for the coming hike.

Much to everyone’s relief, the fighters had not returned, which would indicate, thought Chakotay, that either they had not been detected or they were too small a group to be worth attacking. ‘ _Hopefully the former’_ , he thought as he hoisted his bundle onto his shoulder.

“Everyone ready?” he asked D’emdro, who nodded. “Then let’s go.”

A little hesitantly, they all stepped forward in a single line. Even though there had been no sign of the enemy all day, everyone was on edge.

But silence continued to reign across the landscape which remained reassuringly empty.

* * *

Hours passed – in the darkness, it was hard to tell exactly how many but everyone was thinking they must be close to the hills by now.

“How much further, do you think?” murmured Chakotay, catching up to D’emdro.

“It can’t be far now,” reassured the man.

Chakotay had a sudden horrible thought. “We are going in the right direction, I hope?”

In answer, the other nodded, pointing towards a low ridge nearby, barely visible as a blacker mass against the night sky. “There, that’s the beginning of the hills. But I want to get further into them, where the caves are located, and where we’re less likely to be discovered. It will be safer there.”

“All right.” And Chakotay moved back to the end of the line, ensuring that no stragglers would be left behind.

* * *

As the sky began to gradually lighten with the coming day, they finally reached their destination.

By now, they were deep into the hills, climbing up, then down as D’emdro insisted that they should go a little further. 

“But there are caves here,” protested one.

“I’m exhausted,” complained another. “Why can’t we stop here?”

“Because the soldiers can still find us here,” declared D’emdro. “If you want to stop now, go ahead but I can all but promise that you won’t survive more than a day.”

“But those fighters didn’t see us,” argued a third.

“How do you know that?” spoke up Chakotay from behind. “The answer is, you don’t, so do you really want to take a chance of being found when there is a safer hiding place ahead? I know I don’t.”

The muttering died down as each one considered the alternative. “I guess we can go a little further,” responded the first protester as the others nodded.

And the march continued.

* * *

In fact, it was only another half hour before the group found itself in front of a narrow opening that led into a large cave.

“This is where I think will be the safest place,” explained D’emdro as he showed Chakotay the interior. “It’s big enough that we can spread out, it’s dry, and it’s easily defensible if we are discovered. But I don’t think we will be.”

“I can see why you wanted to come here,” agreed Chakotay, “it’s ideal.” He paused, “Do I hear water back there?”

“Yes, there is a small trough, leading from an underground stream. It’s not much but it should be enough, if we use it carefully.”

“Let’s get everyone inside then.”

The pair quickly returned outside then herded the group through the entrance. “It’s very dark in there,” cautioned D’emdro to each person as they went past, “so watch your footing.”

Just as the last few were making their way through, there was a sudden roar behind and above them.

“Move!” shouted D’emdro, as he scrambled into the opening. 

Right behind him, Chakotay dived inside as the fighters swept close overhead, just clearing the top of the hill above.

“That was too close,” he panted to D’emdro, who was sprawled on the ground where he’d tripped and fallen.

“Agreed. We must cover the entrance so it isn’t noticeable.”

“When it’s safe, we can do that, but if we have been detected and the soldiers come,” said Chakotay, “they’ll be able to pick up our lifesigns.”

“Maybe not,” answered the man. “A lot of the caves around here contain minerals and ores which I believe will act as a scattering field.”

“Do you know whether that’s the case for this one?”

“Not for sure, no, but,” he shrugged, “we can hope.”

“Yeah, we seem to be doing a lot of that these days,” muttered Chakotay to himself.


	9. Chapter 8:

Days passed, how many no one was quite certain, although Chakotay tried to keep track with scratches on the wall next to his sleeping area. In the constant dark, it was very difficult to keep track of time.

Once, he thought he heard sounds of movement from outside the entrance and immediately cautioned everyone to remain completely still and absolutely silent. Long minutes passed as each person attempted to breathe as carefully as possible, trying not to make the slightest sound.

Eventually, D’emdro crept forward very cautiously on his hands and knees toward the entrance.

More minutes went by as they all waited but nothing happened and finally, he returned, on his feet this time. “I went right to the barricade we made but I can’t hear anyone outside. Whoever was there seems to have gone.”

As everyone breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing now they knew the danger was past, Chakotay wondered if perhaps it had been a Starfleet patrol. ‘ _Who knows how much time has actually passed? Days, a week, two weeks?’_ He sat against the wall and contemplated options, all the while knowing there was really only one way to find out. ‘ _But do I dare take the chance and go outside? If it was the soldiers, I could well be showing them exactly where we are. I better wait.’_

Caution won out and he slumped down, his mind turning as it so often did to Kathryn and what she might be doing.

* * *

However, many hours later when there were no further sounds from beyond the entrance, he approached D’emdro. “I’m concerned that whoever we heard out there might actually have been a Federation force, come to rescue us. But my combadge won’t work in here, you’re quite right about the ores blocking a signal, so I need to go out.”

The man shifted uneasily. “I can see your point but I am concerned that if you’re found….” He didn’t have to finish.

“I’ll be as quick and as careful as possible,” promised Chakotay, “but we need to know if help has actually arrived.”

“Yes, you’re right,” conceded D’emdro, patting him on the shoulder.

Immediately, Chakotay made his way to the entrance, then slowly pushed aside the barricade, ready to jump back at the first sign of trouble.

But the birds continued to sing and he couldn’t hear anything untoward, so easing forward, he slid into the open. 

It was daylight but gloomy as heavy clouds covered the sun. 

_‘That helps’_ , he thought, tapping his combadge. “Chakotay to any Federation ship. Please respond.”

For long seconds, there was silence, and he was about to try again when a very relieved voice replied. “This is Captain Locasta of the starship Bingham. We are in orbit of Nivoch Two with troops on the ground around the major city on the southern continent. We have been trying to find you for two days, Mister Chakotay. Please state your location so we can come and get you.”

Breathing a long sigh of relief, he answered, “I’m outside a large cave in the Baddon Hills, I don’t know the exact location.”

“Never mind, my ops officer is locking onto the coordinates of your signal. Prepare to beam up.”

“Uh, Captain, I’m not alone. There are thirty others with me, refugees who stayed behind when the Quicksilver evacuated everyone they could fit in.”

“Thirty? All right, we’ll need to transport them in several groups.”

“Very well, but I have to bring them out of the cave first. Can you give me a few minutes?”

There was a pause before Locasta replied. “A few, but you should be aware that there is still fighting in that area; your location is not secure.” She stopped, obviously pausing to listen to someone, then continued. “My ops officer tells me that in fact there is a fairly large troop of enemy soldiers approaching your position now. I’d suggest you get moving.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll contact you as soon as we’re all outside.”

“We’ll be here. Bingham out.”

Frantically, Chakotay dashed inside, pulling the barricade away as he did so. “Come quickly. There’s a starship in orbit that will rescue us but we have to go right now,” he shouted. “They tell me there is a large troop of soldiers closing in on us.”

“Then how can we escape?” objected someone from the back. “There’s nowhere to go.”

“The ship will beam us up in groups but we have to hurry. They can’t take us all at once. Come on!”

The urgency in his voice was enough to galvanize everyone into motion. As several started to pick up their supplies, Chakotay yelled, “leave everything. You don’t need it and we have to get out of here right now.”

Turning, he led the way out then signalled the Bingham. “How many can you take at once?”

“We can pick up ten at a time,” came the answer, “we’re using the cargo transporters.”

“I’ve got ten here.” He slapped his combadge on the man nearest to him. “Lock on to my signal but when you’ve got them, send me back the combadge.”

“Acknowledged,” came the reply as the group dematerialized.

A second later, his combadge appeared in the dirt as the second group huddled together.

Snatching it up, Chakotay did the same again. “Energize,” he shouted.

As they disappeared, he realized he could hear shouts in the near distance. Whoever was coming was very close.

As his combadge reappeared once more, he picked it up, then called the remainder of the group together but they stopped as someone shouted. “Where’s Bad’lin? I don’t see him.”

Shots could be heard and several bullets ricocheted off nearby trees. 

Snarling in frustration, Chakotay slapped his combadge onto D’emdro, then yelled, “I’ll get him. Bingham, energize!”

Scrambling back into the cave, Chakotay frantically shouted, “Bad’lin? Where are you?”

A thin voice answered close by. “Right here. I fell and I think I’ve broken something. I can’t walk.”

Bending over, Chakotay grabbed the man’s upper arms, then heaved him up and over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. “I just hope the combadge is there because if it isn’t, we’re dead,” he muttered as he hurried outside.

For a second, he could see nothing on the ground besides foot prints but then something silver gleamed at him, and he snatched it up.

At the same time, a group of soldiers burst through the trees opposite, then paused to train their weapons on him.

“Bingham, energize,” he yelled.

As the soldiers reacted and began firing, he felt the transporter beam grab on at the same time as a searing pain ripped through his leg. But the beam held and seconds later, he collapsed on the deck of a cargo bay.

At once, several hands lifted his burden off him. For a minute or two, he lay there, unable to move.

“What’s going on?” came the captain’s voice, as she pushed her way through. “Where is Mister Chakotay?”

“Right here,” he answered faintly, “but I think I’ve been shot.”

“What? Where’s the medic?” demanded the captain. “Get this man to sickbay immediately.”

Within seconds, Chakotay felt himself enveloped once more in a transporter beam which deposited him on a biobed in sickbay. Relaxing as a doctor approached his side, he finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

They were all safe.

* * *

Once healed of his wounds, Chakotay was able to resume his original role of troubleshooter cum negotiator. 

The presence of a well-armed starship as well as the no-nonsense attitude of its captain had been quite enough to persuade the several warlords to stand down and declare a truce.

Shortly after Chakotay’s rescue, Captain Locasta was able to bring all sides to the negotiating table but at that point, she hit a stalemate. Each declared that the others had been the aggressors and should be held responsible for escalating a minor dispute over land into an all-out war.

“Although,” Locasta explained to Chakotay when she briefed him, “in my opinion, they’re all equally to blame. It started with an argument about who has jurisdiction over a small valley which is located near the capital.”

“A valley?” asked Chakotay, “what’s in it to make it so valuable?”

“Not _in_ it but _under_ it,” Locasta went on. “A valuable deposit of eluderium has recently been discovered under that valley but no clear ownership of the mineral rights has been determined. Everyone claimed it, and when one started excavating a mine, the others took up weapons to stop them. And once the governor and his hirelings decamped, things went downhill from there.”

“They certainly did,” he replied with feeling. “So where are we now?”

“Well, I’ve been able to stop the actual fighting and get them to sit at the same table but now I’ve hit a wall. To be honest, short of the fact that I’d like to bang their heads together, I’m at a loss.” She looked at him. “I’m hoping you will have more success.”

With a smile, Chakotay gathered up his PADDs. “You know, in the Maquis, often the only way to get things done was to bang heads together. Might be worth a try.”

Chuckling, she followed him into the conference room.

Sitting on each side of a long table, wearing almost identical scowls, were five warlords

Walking behind the chairs to his seat at the head of the table, Chakotay could feel waves of anger radiating through the room. With a sigh, he sat down, knowing he would have his work cut out for him if he were to have any chance of brokering an agreement. However, he had to try. 

“Gentlemen, I am Chakotay, an envoy of the Diplomatic Corps, presently representing the Federation. I have the Council’s authorization to mediate this dispute and hopefully settle it.” He glanced around. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

* * *

Hours later, after endless talking, discussion, argument, followed by more talking, an agreement was reached. The valley would be jointly owned but any mining of its resources would be overseen by the Federation so that there could be no accusation of cheating by anyone. As well, since there had been considerable destruction, particularly of the capital city which was in ruins, reparations would be made for all death and injury to civilians as well as loss of property. In order to ensure that the terms were adhered to by all parties, a Federation task force would be sent to keep the peace and enforce the terms of the agreement. A provisional government would be set up by the authorities on Prime, although Chakotay had his doubts about its possible effectiveness.

Getting stiffly to his feet, Chakotay gathered up his PADDs. “I have one more thing to say to all of you,” he declared. “The loss of so many lives as well as destruction of an entire city should never have occurred. As a member of the Federation, Nivoch Two is expected to adhere to Federation principles which means that disputes are settled by negotiation and mediation, not by fighting. If you cannot abide by those principles, then the Federation will assign an administrator to run the planetary government.”

One of the warlords leaped angrily to his feet. “You can’t do that!”

Locasta stepped forward, her eyes boring into the man. “He can and he will. And I’m here to back him up.” 

Clearly, this was no idle threat, and the man subsided into his chair while the rest looked around uncertainly at each other. It had become obvious that either they adhered to all the conditions of the agreement or they would lose everything, which none were willing to do.

One of the others spoke up. “I can accept that.” He glared at the others. “If the peace is broken, it won’t be by our people.”

Chakotay shifted his gaze around the table. “Well? Will you all make the same commitment?”

Their backs against a wall, the rest nodded. “We will.”

“Very good. I will so inform the Federation Council.” With a heartfelt sigh of relief, he walked out of the room, followed by the captain.

“I’m impressed, Mister Chakotay,” she told him as they moved along the corridor. “I didn’t think you would be able to pull it off. Care to join me for a celebratory drink?”

“Thank you, perhaps later this evening, if you don’t mind. I must put together a report for Admiral Broughton and with all that’s happened, it could take a while.”

As they reached the guest quarters, she paused. “Let me know when you’re ready,” she smiled and stepped away.

Chakotay sighed, knowing he had a lot of work to do before he would be free to socialize. ‘ _Sooner I start, the sooner I’m finished,’_ he told himself, dropping the PADDs on the small desk before settling wearily into his chair. Very soon, he was deep into composing a detailed description of all the events that had occurred on Nivoch Two since his arrival.


	10. Chapter 9:

With the return of the Bingham to Deep Space Nine, Chakotay was finally able to relax and contemplate his options. First and foremost, he needed to find Kathryn.

Crossing his fingers that she hadn’t taken off again on some new mission, as soon as he’d dropped his bag in his quarters, he headed for Quark’s.

Although she wasn’t present, Dalby was, which assured him that the Quicksilver was still docked at the station.

“You just caught me,” explained Dalby, “we’ve got a job at Olmerak, and Kathryn wants to get going.”

Staring in surprise, Chakotay answered, “But it’s not habitable, is it? I thought it was an F-class planet.”

“It is. But there are a couple of mining colonies established underground, and the head honcho of one of them wants us to pick up some mineral samples, says he needs them analyzed as fast as possible.”

“Why?”

Dalby shrugged. “Don’t ask me. We’re just the messengers.” He moved toward the door. “If you want to see the captain, you better come now. She might be able to give you a few minutes.”

Wasting no time, Chakotay quickly followed his old crewmate into the Promenade, then to one of the upper docking rings.

“Hey, Kathryn,” Dalby shouted as he swerved to step through the airlock into the Quicksilver, “look who I found at Quark’s.”

Glancing over her shoulder, Kathryn quickly stood up, her face breaking into a wide smile. “Well, am I ever glad to see you,” she told Chakotay. “I was beginning to wonder whether or not you’d survived hanging out with the locals.” Her eyes swept over him from head to toe. “All’s well?”

“I’m fine,” he grinned, “and the planet is, too, now the Federation has taken over. I don’t think the warlords will go on the rampage again.”

“Good thing.” She turned back to the console. “We’re just about to leave…” she began.

“So Ken told me. You’re going to Olmerak?”

“Yes. The director of one of the mining consortiums there says he thinks they’ve found some wonderful new ore, very rare and therefore very valuable. He wants a sample analyzed as soon as possible so if it’s what he thinks it is, his group can stake a claim.” She waved her hand vaguely. “He’s willing to pay pretty much whatever we ask, so we’re going right now.” Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at him. “Want to come?”

Chakotay didn’t need to think twice. “I’d love to. Do I have time to get my gear?”

“No, I’ve already got final clearance to depart. If you want to get off, that’s fine, but we have to leave now.”

“I’ll manage but I do need to let Captain Locasta know where I am.”

“Sure,” spoke Dalby from behind them. “What ship is it?”

“The Bingham.”

A moment later, the bridge officer on duty on the Bingham was staring at Chakotay in some surprise. “Yes, sir?”

“Could you please give a message to the captain for me? Tell her I’m…playing hooky.”

The officer’s eyebrows rose. “Hooky?”

“Yes, just for a few days. I’m on the Quicksilver, if she really needs me, but only if it’s a red alert.”

‘Yes, sir, I’ll tell her.”

“Thank you. Chakotay out.”

As he closed the channel, the Quicksilver slid away from the docking port, then swung about and almost immediately went to warp.

“On our way,” Kathryn informed them as she set the auto-pilot and led the way into the galley. “So, now that business is taken care of, come tell us what happened after we left Nivoch.”

* * *

Settling at the table, Chakotay spent the next hour relating his adventure, pausing only when Ken suggested they order some dinner. 

“So, it’s all settled down now?” asked Kathryn, “and Starfleet is going to enforce this agreement?”

“That’s the deal. How well it will actually work, I don’t know.”

“I’ll bet they weren’t too happy,” commented Dalby as he rose to his feet.

“No, they weren’t but we didn’t give them much of a choice. It was either accept the agreement and promise to uphold it or the Federation takes over. They liked that option even less.”

“I can imagine,” chuckled Kathryn as she glanced up at Dalby, who was getting to his feet. “You calling it a night?”

“Yeah. Let me know when you want me to take over but right now, I think I’ll find my bunk.”

“Okay, see you in about six hours.”

“Sure. See you later, Chakotay,” he added as he disappeared into one of the bedrooms.

“Want some more tea?” Kathryn asked as she moved to the replicator.

“All right.”

Staring down at the table, Chakotay debated whether to start the conversation he wanted to have. This was his best chance to find out if Kathryn had really meant what she’d said about not wanting to lose him but he wasn’t sure where to start.

“I’m glad you’re here,” remarked Kathryn as she sat down again and handed over his cup. “I, uh, I’ve been thinking about what you said just before we made the second trip to Nivoch.” Her eyes were also focused on the table. “And I’ve been wondering exactly what you meant.”

His gaze snapped up to her face. “I meant what I said, Kathryn. Now we’ve found each other again, I want to be with you.” He sighed. “Look, I don’t want to force you into anything you’re not ready for. If you want to be friends only, that’s okay. I’d prefer more but what I want most is to have you in my life, in whatever way you’re willing to be there.”

With his words, her gaze shifted to focus on him. For several seconds, she hesitated before taking a deep breath. “I want to be with you as well. I….” Again, she paused, obviously trying to find words, then threw up her hands in exasperation. “Oh hell, Chakotay, I want you. In every way possible. Friends, lovers, the whole works.” Her voice softened. “I love you and while I can survive without you, my life is much emptier when you’re not in it.”

Speechless, he could only stare at her in wonder. As his face broke into a huge smile, he moved around the table to grasp her hands and pull her up so he could kiss her thoroughly. “I love you, too,” he murmured before kissing her again. 

For uncounted minutes, they stood close together, reveling in the knowledge that they were both exactly where they wanted to be.

When she finally pulled back, it was to move forward to the helm. “I better check our course before I get any more distracted.”

Chuckling softly, he followed her and settled in the second seat. “Better pay attention then. I wouldn’t want anything untoward to happen now.”

“Yes, sir,” she grinned back, as her eyes roamed across the readouts before she sat back. “All is well and we’re right on course.”

“Yes, we are,” he smiled gently, reaching for her hand, then starting to play with her fingers. His head was dancing, his brain all over the map, jumping from one topic to another. Finally, taking a deep breath, he focused on the most important question. “Where do we go from here?”

At his more serious tone, she looked up. “I…don’t know. Where do you think we should go?”

“Well, it seems to me there are several possibilities. We could stay here at the station, continue what you’re doing, maybe eventually even acquire another ship and more crew.” His lips pursed as he thought about it. “We could build a very decent little business out here, Kathryn. You’ve already made an excellent start.”

“We could but what about the Diplomatic Corps? You would be giving up your career just as you’ve really started to make a name for yourself. And it’s something you like doing, isn’t it?”

He shrugged. “It is, I won’t deny that. But whisking around the Federation, constantly putting out fires, isn’t necessarily the way I want to spend the rest of my life.” Glancing over, he added, “So, do you have any other ideas?”

“Well, I hadn’t really planned on staying here indefinitely either. It was an opportunity that presented itself when I needed something to keep me occupied, so I took it. But, to be honest, running other people’s errands isn’t what I want to do for the rest of my life. Besides, I think Ken could take over any time now, he knows as much as I do.” She turned to face him head-on. “So,” she began in a speculative tone, “it would seem we are both willing to let go of the past and move on to something new. In other words, we’re footloose and fancy-free.”

“An interesting thought,” he answered, pondering possibilities. “I rather like that idea.”

“So do I. Since I have to keep an eye on things here, why don’t we pass the time by seeing how many different suggestions we can come up with?”

* * *

By the time Kathryn got up to rouse Ken several hours later, the pair had gone through a lot of ideas, some novel, some ludicrous, some actually quite practical. 

Partway along, she had reached for a PADD and started to jot them all down. 

Chakotay had laughed at her, telling her she was far too organized but she insisted that everything was on the table and it behooved them to make a list.

Now he glanced up at her, a question in his eyes. “Is there a spare mattress somewhere I can use?” he inquired.

Turning, she gazed at him, then replied in a sultry voice. “I thought you might like to share.”

Surprised, he hesitated, wanting to be quite sure about this next step. “I would but…this isn’t too soon?”

“Not for me,” she replied, her tone definite.

He was on his feet in an instant. “Then lead the way.”

Kathryn nodded towards the other room. “Why don’t you go on in? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he breathed fervently.

* * *

Early the following morning, when the two wandered out of Kathryn’s room, Dalby’s eyes opened in some surprise before he started to grin. “Well, well, well. It’s about time.”

Kathryn actually blushed slightly while Chakotay tugged on his ear.

“Do I take it there’s been a bit of a sea change?” continued Dalby, unable to resist teasing them a little.

“I guess you could call it that,” replied Kathryn, “I take it you approve?”

“I certainly do and so will everyone else,” he answered firmly. “We’ve all been waiting a long time for you two to finally see the light.”

“The light was evident quite a while ago,” responded Chakotay, “but over the years, it got a bit dim.”

“However, it’s shining brightly now,” stated Kathryn, turning to the replicator. “Want some coffee?” she asked.

“Sure,” both men replied.

“So, have you made any plans for the future yet?” inquired Dalby.

“Actually, we have, sort of,” answered Chakotay.

“But a lot depends on you,” continued Kathryn. “How would you feel about taking over the business?”

“This business? You mean, you want to get out of it?”

“It’s one possibility,” she replied, “there are others.”

“Yeah, I could do it if I could find someone to come in with me.” Pausing, he frowned. “You know, I remember Ayala saying he would like to try something new. I wonder if he’d be interested. Or maybe Tabor, I think he’s back on Bajor.”

Now it was Chakotay’s turn to frown. “Just be careful,” he warned.

“Careful of what?” asked Dalby.

“Those are both former Maquis. You don’t want to rouse unnecessary suspicion among, say, the Cardassians, for example. It might be a good idea to find some other partners as well, ones who weren’t in the Maquis.”

“I can’t imagine that would be a problem now, would it?” objected Kathryn.

His response was a shrug. “Just saying….”

“It’s a valid point, though,” interjected Dalby. “I’ll ask around.”

“You better ask Quark as well. After all, he is part of this.”

“So, you’re sure about giving this up,” said Dalby, staring hard at Kathryn.

“Yes, I think so. Chakotay has a good career based on Earth so we’ll head back there. And as well, I need to see my mother. I did promise I wouldn’t get lost in the Delta Quadrant again but even though she knows where I am, I’m sure she’s wondering when I plan to return.”

“So, this is our last trip together.”

“Yes, I guess it is,” agreed Kathryn. “Time to move on, for all of us.”


	11. Epilogue – Two months later

It was early morning when Chakotay wakened in the old farmhouse in Indiana. From outside, he could hear birds chirping a greeting to the sun, while from downstairs, the welcome aroma of fresh-brewed coffee was wafting up the stairs.

With a contented sigh, he turned to look at Kathryn, still sound asleep beside him, although he knew she wouldn’t be for much longer. The scent of coffee, however faint, was always enough to waken her.

_‘Time to get up’_ , he mused, then rose and pulled on some clothes, before heading downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Gretchen just starting breakfast.

“Good morning,” he greeted her cheerfully.

Smiling, she gave him a quick hug then turned back to the old-fashioned stove. “Katie isn’t awake yet?” she asked.

“No, but she will be soon. Now, tell me what I can do to help.”

“Well, how about starting by cutting up some fruit? Then if you would slice a bit off that loaf of bread for toast….” Gretchen sighed happily. “It’s so nice to have someone here who knows his way around a kitchen.”

Chakotay merely smiled in answer and set about his tasks. As he cut fruit and sliced bread, his mind wandered, recalling how they had ended up here in Kathryn’s family home.

It hadn’t been the first choice for either of them but both had discovered that the time spent here away from outside distractions was the respite they’d needed while deciding where they wanted to go as well as what they wanted to do.

Now, however, it was time to move on to the next phase of their lives, which would be in the Diplomatic Corps. 

Admiral Broughton had followed up on his idea of creating a ‘unique’ position for Chakotay, one with considerable latitude to settle disputes and problems as he saw fit, as well as find ways of assisting the authorities, from local level to planet-wide. 

The addition of Kathryn Janeway, now retired from Starfleet, to the Corps was an unexpected bonus, one which M. Celignac had been eager to endorse. Broughton had been quick to remind him that seven years of working very closely together under difficult circumstances made them an ideal team for the Corps.

_‘Certainly a different road than I expected to be on **,** when we first got home,’ _Chakotay mused, remembering the admiral’s unbridled enthusiasm when he’d explained their new positions. _‘Funny the way things have turned out.’_

The sound of footsteps on the stairs brought him back to the present.

Seconds later, Kathryn bounced into the room. 

With her hair pulled back into a ponytail and her face scrubbed free of all makeup, Chakotay couldn’t help thinking she looked about twelve. Until he looked more carefully when he saw the wrinkles starting to bracket her eyes and settle in across her forehead. No, she wasn’t young anymore but then, neither was he.

“Want some coffee?” she interrupted his thoughts.

“Sure.”

As Gretchen placed their breakfasts on the table, he took his seat and picked up his cup. Once again, his mind drifted to the immediate future, one that was looking very hopeful indeed. He couldn’t wait to get started.


End file.
